There'll be no probably about it - come the Spurs game, if we aren't four points ahead we'll be praying for ''Welshman managed'' WBA to help us out at Swansea, this assuming Sunderland and 'boro are out of the frame and relegated already.
west brom comfortably mid table.. last game of the season, away i don't hold high hopes for wba getting even a point
Boro and Sunderland's game in hand is against each other so one of them, if not both, will make up some ground on us and Swansea. Boro also go to Bournemouth. Sunderland also play us, Bournemouth and Swansea. Lots of football left to be played - hundreds of permutations results wise.
All ifs and buts right now and it's easier to take things a game at a time. Things can change by the week with injuries, suspensions, form and having something to play for. For example, we could face a Spurs chasing the title or one that has finished second and has a cup final in a week's time. Most important thing to focus on now is beating Watford on Saturday rather than worrying if we'll need to beat Spurs or not. We've got ourselves into a great position compared to where we were in January and it's important to remain positive about us reaching the end of the season outside of the bottom 3.
I don't think we should fall into the trap of thinking it's us or Swansea for that third spot. Everyone believes Sunderland are down. Just as people have thought similarly in recent seasons. Momentum is a strange thing - one win and suddenly the belief comes back. And they have the 4 teams above them to play as well. I'm taking nowt for granted.
At the minute Swansea don't look like scoring never mind winning. I fancy them to get a point against Stoke at best and hopefully we'll beat Watford. That'll extend the gap to 4 points. Their next to are against Everton & Man Utd, and you wouldn't fancy them to get anything from either. Hopefully we'll get 3 points against Sunderland and probably lose to Southampton. The gap would be 7 points and we'd be safe. Swansea have to start scoring goals, if they don't pronto, they'll be down.
We have 9 on Sunderland, to stay up they'll have to win all six. That's just not going to happen when they've only won 5 all year. It's a 2 horse race now. Boro would need probably 4 wins and a draw. With their fixture list it ain't happening
Yes but maybe they've only won 5 games because they still have 4 of the worst teams in the league to play. Their game in hand is away at Boro - winnable - they would then be 6 pts behind and still to play us. I know it's unlikely but so were their winning runs in previous seasons. Don't rule the ****ers out.
They've only won 5 games because they're one of the worst sides in the league. I fancy them to pick up points but not the 15 that they'll probably need. Out of all their previous years though they seem to have the least quality this year. They concede too many goals and don't score enough. They seem all out of fight too I hope they go on a run to an extent. But it would have to be some run to bridge the gap
Palace have a **** tonne of quality. Benteke & Zaha are £30m+ players. Add Sakho, Cabaye, Townsend & Puncheon, Schlupp and Van Aanholt and that's a tonne of quality. They should never of been down with us.
Palace have drastically underperformed though. There's unexpected and then there's miracles. Swansea don't have that quality, they're barely scoring. Before the Chelsea game, Palace had won the last 3 and were full of confidence. Swansea have scored once in their last 5
Before Palace improved they were ****e. Swansea are presently ****e, but that's not to say they can't improve. Swansea are playing without confidence. If they find that again they will be a threat.
He's played less than 1 1/2 games after being out injured for almost a month, before that he'd scored pretty much a goal every other game, he's obviously not just turned ****, Chelsea tried to sign him in January.