Half way mark

PHB

So were here, halfway through the season, start of the new year and the table looks like this

1 Chelsea 20 32 49
2 Arsenal 19 25 41
3 Man Utd 20 18 40
4 Everton 20 6 40
5 Middlesbrough 20 10 35
6 Liverpool 20 14 34
7 Charlton 20 -5 31
8 Tottenham 20 5 29
9 Birmingham 20 2 26
10 Portsmouth 20 -3 26
11 Aston Villa 20 -2 25
12 Man City 20 3 24
13 Bolton 20 -3 23
14 Newcastle 19 -6 22
15 Blackburn 20 -13 19
16 Fulham 20 -13 18
17 Crystal Palace 20 -11 15
18 Norwich 20 -19 15
19 Southampton 20 -14 14
20 West Brom 20 -26 11

Starting at the bottom:

I think West Brom are gone, definally.
Then I honastly think theres a strong chance that the three that came up, are going back down again.
I think if anyone of them can stay up, its Norwich.
They have lost all their matches against the decent clubs, which is to be expected.
However the only team in the bottom half they have lost to in Villa, who shouldn't be there anyway.
I think they are gona win the 6 pointers, which will keep them up, bringing southampton down No Le Tisser to save em

At the top:

Everyone, everyone is asking can United/Arsenal catch Chelsea.
Simply put, yep
9 points behind, and 5(8 atm but i'm assuming a win) points behind.

First thing i'm gona say is if arsenal or united take over chelsea, they will win it.
If somebody catches them at this stage, their form will just carry them to the premiership, both teams have the experience and skill to do that and I think most people would agree with that.

Chelsea's next 4 matches:

Liverpool(Away) - I think Liverpool can get a draw, maybe even a win. At Anfield Liverpool are no walkover, and I feel Chelsea will drop 2 points here.
Middlesbrough(Home) - They could win this, but it could also be a draw
Tottenham (Away) - Spurs are on mega form atm, and I think they still will be at this point and hopefully can take em on
Portsmouth (Home) - Portsmouth have caused United and Arsenal trouble, and caused Chelsea trouble today, imo Chelsea got off lightly today and I think this will be trouble

Also before the Spurs match and after the Portsmouth match, Mourinho has to play United in the Carling Cup. Fergie will not waste any strength whatsoever on this if he feels its not good for his premiership goals, Mourinho seems to want to win everything, I think this could be bad for him. People say Chelsea have a total reserve squad availible, but I think in these matches some of Chelseas first team will be playing.

I think there is a chance that Chelsea could lose as many as 11 points, but realistically I think they will lose 4, to Chelsea and Middlesbrough, especially after a long winter period, with a team which plays the same 11 nearly week in week out.[you could see how much they struggled even without Gudjohson!]

So if they do lose these 5 points, will United or Arsenal catch up?

Arsenal:

Charlton(Away) - tough game but I'm sure they can win it
Man City(Home) - An easy win surely
Bolton(Home) - An easy win surely
Newcastle(Away) - tough game, maybe a draw

They look like they should only lose 2 points in that entire period, that puts them only 2 points behind.

United:

Middlesbrough(Away) - really hard game
Tottenham (Home) - hardish game, should be a win
Liverpool (Away) - hard hard game
Aston Villa (Home) - should be a win

Middlesbrough and Liverpool imo will make or break United's season.
If we win those, which I believe we definally will win the first, we can catch them. We need 4 wins on the trot to be only 4 behind.
Its not impossible, and United are a strong second half of the season team.

Will Chelsea drop points in the next 4 matches? I think a definate yes.
Will Arsenal/United catch em?
I think Arsenal will definally catch them, no doubt about it, whether they can take over is another question.
Will United catch them, they need some really good form, but they have that at the moment and I think they can do it.
[If you look at our form once Rio returned, if me maintain it, and Chelsea continue theirs, we should matamatically just catch them]

If either team get that close, it will come down to the matches between the big three, which I think United can win, obviously

Chelsea's title? not on my life! Once the injuries hit them up front, Duff or Gudjohnson, they are gona stop scoring and start drawing. I've got money on it im that sure

Davey Devil

Put your money back in your pocket. Chelsea have it in the bag.

Big Ears

PHB wrote:

Chelsea's title? not on my life! Once the injuries hit them up front, Duff or Gudjohnson, they are gona stop scoring and start drawing. I've got money on it im that sure

But what happens if the injuries don't come..........think Arsenal last season and you will have your answer .Chelsea will wrap it up with 2 weeks to go .

Jivin Turkey

PHB wrote:

Chelsea's title? not on my life! Once the injuries hit them up front, Duff or Gudjohnson, they are gona stop scoring and start drawing. I've got money on it im that sure

To be honest, just as many goals have come from everyone else than these two. That is Chelseas strength, they dont depend on anyone, Gudjohnson is injured well there is Drogba, Duff is injured well there is Robben, all of them injured well there is Lampard, Lampard injured well there is Cole, get my point?

As regards their upcoming games? Arent United playing the exact same people bar Portsmouth (Villa instead?), personally I dont see how they are going to catch them up here?

Chelsea are playing like champions, I dont think inexperience will cost them. They have too many guys that have been flirting with the top for too long, I would lay a bet for any amount that they wont be turned over mentally.

smemon

its not chelsea's title.

first of all, it was arsenal's title up until they lost at ot. that was the view of many, it was between arsenal and chelsea with utd to fight it out for a champions league spot with liverpool and the like. look how that turned out. all of a sudden chelsea will stroll it and arsenal will find it hard to keep above utd.

chelsea WILL drop points, theres no doubt about it. its just a case of whether the rest can capitalise. dont forget utd and arsenal both play chelsea in april. they are huge games and should they lose both, will probably cost them the title.

chelsea are good, solid and over-awe the midtable sides like portsmouth etc...just beat them with their sheer power and might. but chelsea dont look so mighty against the big sides- utd and arsenal. thats where i see their weakness and that's what gives me hope they'll slip up right at the end.

Harry2001

smemon wrote:

chelsea are good, solid and over-awe the midtable sides like portsmouth etc...just beat them with their sheer power and might. but chelsea dont look so mighty against the big sides- utd and arsenal. thats where i see their weakness and that's what gives me hope they'll slip up right at the end.

eh?

Chelsea have beaten Man Utd, Everton, Middlesbrough and Liverpool and drawn with Arsenal so thats 13 points out of 15 available against the five teams currently below them in the table.

I have no love of Chelsea and their millions but at least check the facts first!

A Dub in Glasgo

Chelsea will win the one horse race with Arsenal winning the 3 horse race to finish 2nd. In fact the top 3 will stay the same come the end of the EPL season.

Gileadi

[QUOTE=smemon

chelsea are good, solid and over-awe the midtable sides like portsmouth etc...just beat them with their sheer power and might. but chelsea dont look so mighty against the big sides- utd and arsenal. thats where i see their weakness and that's what gives me hope they'll slip up right at the end.[/QUOTE]

are you for real??

their record this year is wins against man united,liverpool and newcastle and a draw at arsenal which had abit of controversy around it,going on your basis arsenal dont perform well against the big teams as they lost to man united and liverpool

apart from a possible draw at anfield on new years day i cant see chelsea not picking up full points,even if they were to draw 2 games it wouldnt be woeful as its not set in stone that arsenal and united are going to continue to win each match also

just looking at who united and arsenal have to play it is no easier than what chelsea have,your also going on the premise that should some of the chelsea players get injured that they will falter,if anything its less likely to happen to them then say if rio/keane get injured for united or henry for arsenal as even if terry gets injured you got gallas and carvahlo(sp?) waiting to pop into the team

also be nice to see souness get some wins under his belt at newcastle,with the squard he has once he bosters up the defence i can see them making a good surge in the second half of the season

kensutz

I have €100 on Norwich to stay up thats how convinced I am that we can manage to stay up. Our team is decimated by injuries but some are on the comeback, we need to go to Pompey and give a good account of ourselves. I'll be there with the Y'army making noise. We're the only club to be complimented on our home and away support.

mike65

I'm not betting anything on Liverpool finnishing forth, mainly cos the runners and riders are more evenly matched this year. Boro have a solid look and Everton may, MAY suprise us though I tend to think the wheels will come loose and they finnish outside CL places. I see an almightly scrap between 'Pool, 'Boro, Everton, Spurs, Charlton and maybe Brum for places in CL and UEFA Cup.

Mike.

PHB

your also going on the premise that should some of the chelsea players get injured that they will falter,if anything its less likely to happen to them then say if rio/keane get injured for united or henry for arsenal as even if terry gets injured you got gallas and carvahlo(sp?) waiting to pop into the team

I like those examples
Take a different example perhaps, United without their top scorer Van Nist, or Arsenal without their best player Campbell, yet they continued onwards.

Chelsea were having trouble wining games early on until Robben came around, and imo their attack is very weak against good defences.
They sit back and absord then counter with lightning qucik attacks, something which won't work as well against good teams, which will be their problem in europe, and I feel once a part of their attack gets disrupted, which I feel is bound to happen, they will stop scoring as much and draw a lot more.
Since they have become so much based on an 11 man team, this will affect them, just as the next 3 matchs will since the same people keep playing.

Davey Devil

Keep clutching at those straws PHB.

If they have anymore injuries between now and the end of Jan you know what is going to happen.

Personally I hate all this looking into the future crap. You feel they are bound to get injuries? I'll get onto Mourinho straight away and inform him of this new development.

Why not just let the season play out and see if you beloved Man Utd can catch up. Personally I can't see it happening.

Jivin Turkey

PHB wrote:

I like those examples
Take a different example perhaps, United without their top scorer Van Nist, or Arsenal without their best player Campbell, yet they continued onwards.

Chelsea have coped with their fair share of injuries this year to be honest. They were missing Robben and (a fully fit) Duff for the first few months of the season. Drogba missed almost three months. Carvalho currently has a broken toe.

PHB wrote:

Chelsea were having trouble wining games early on until Robben came around, and imo their attack is very weak against good defences.
They sit back and absord then counter with lightning qucik attacks, something which won't work as well against good teams, which will be their problem in europe, and I feel once a part of their attack gets disrupted, which I feel is bound to happen, they will stop scoring as much and draw a lot more.

They didnt have trouble winning games. Just because they were not winning games 4 and 5 nil doesnt mean they were having trouble winning them. They never looked in trouble in those games, and they are so solid at the back that one goal will usually be enough.

As regards Europe, they didnt have too many problems finding the net. You also have to factor that all the teams in their group were of a good standard. There were no whipping boys there.

"Once part of their attack is disrupted"? As said above, they were missing Duff, Robben, and Drogba for months. Is that not a disruption? They seemed to cope easy enough to me.

PHB wrote:

Since they have become so much based on an 11 man team, this will affect them, just as the next 3 matchs will since the same people keep playing.

While I have no doubt that Mourinho knows his best XI he has still used his full squad greatly. At the back he has rotated five players (with usually Bridge sitting on the bench). He has used seven midfielders, Duff, Robben, Lampard, Makalele, Smertin, Tiago and Joe Cole. And three strikers, Kezman, Drogba and Gudjohnson.

jank

interesting read but its way too early yet

Arsenal and man u have to keep winning its as simple as that to keep the presure on!

Bacchus

Sorry, I thought I could let it go but there are so many irritating comments/arguments in this thread, I had to say something.

PHB:

If you look at our form once Rio returned, if me maintain it, and Chelsea continue theirs, we should matamatically just catch them

If Chelsea continue their form, no-one will be able to catch them at all. They're winning all there games. How can you possibly catch a team win Chelsea's current form.

The arguments that injuries would hit Chelsea more than United or Arsenel are completely unfounded. Chelsea have a massive squad bursting with talent and would cope much better with injuries than any of the other contenders.

PHB:

Chelsea were having trouble wining games early on until Robben came around, and imo their attack is very weak against good defences

That's the thing you see. They HAVE Robben now. Therefore they are now a stronger team. They have got a world class attack. Okay, I think they do need a top striker up front but their midfield is unbelievable. You may say that if they lose Robben they're screwed, but that something you can't predict and such arguments (in my opinion) are pointless.

btw, PHB I don't mean to pick on you, it's just those two points really irritated me.

Anyway, My thoughts on the whole thing...

Chelsea to win it but Man Utd and Arsenal coming close behind. Man Utd may be 9 points behind, but I'v written them off before and was proved horribly wrong. As mentioned earlier, the 6 pointers between Chelsea, Arsenal and Utd will probably decide the winners. Arsenal are probably the most likely to drop points in the second half of the season - since losing to Utd, they just haven't been able to hit top form.
The fight for fourth will be very interesting. Liverpool have hit form but they face Utd and Chelsea in the next couple of games. I think Everton are going to start dropping points. They don't have a large enough squad to keep them going for the whole season. Middlesbourgh are tough to call. They've been well positioned in the league in previous seasons but always seem to mess it up. It'll be interesting to see if they can cut it this year. Liverpool to get fourth.

Getting the drop: WBA, Crystal Palace, Southampton

smemon

Harry2001 wrote:

eh?

Chelsea have beaten Man Utd, Everton, Middlesbrough and Liverpool and drawn with Arsenal so thats 13 points out of 15 available against the five teams currently below them in the table.

I have no love of Chelsea and their millions but at least check the facts first!

yeah but look at their performances in those games.... hardly world class.

all 1-0's too, plus they were lucky to win some of them. for all chelsea's millions they do look very ordinary at times. their like a madrid with shape and work ethic, perhaps too much shape to win trophies. if murinho let the handbrake off we'd see a side probably better than arsenal's in terms of quality and class.

their italian tactics make it difficult for them to concede but as a result they dont have the classyness of the likes of barca or arsenal, that fluent passing and movement off the ball.

like celtic, shut the wingmen out of the game and they will struggle, however thats easier said than done they lack that touch of class that all great sides have. i think thats down to murinho's rigid system because on paper they ooze class.

PHB

Well,

My argument about injuries is that Chelsea would be hit hard, not if they get injuries at the back when they are strong, but if they lose a player like Makelele(no idea how to spell that) or any of the top front 3.
Do i think they will get injuried? Does Mourinho know they are going to get injured. Call him, tell him that, and he'll tell you to stop being stupid, of course they are going to get injured at some point.


What I was talking about when I was meantioning their weak attack is not that it relies on Robben so when he gets injured they are screwed, it was that it works well against weak defences but not so well against good ones, and you can see that they tend to only win 1-0 against the upper table teams. What i'm trying to say is when they get scored on first, which is eventually going to happen, I don't think their attack has the ability to come back from behiund and win it, and I think they will lose points against the top teams.

Someone said that Arsenal and United have to play the top teams, but what I'm trying to say is I feel that United's attack and Arsenals attack are a higher quality and will stand up when they need to, i.e. show the experience they have.

At the back he has rotated five players (with usually Bridge sitting on the bench). He has used seven midfielders, Duff, Robben, Lampard, Makalele, Smertin, Tiago and Joe Cole. And three strikers, Kezman, Drogba and Gudjohnson.

Yes he has, but by that logic Unitd have used 26 players therefore Fergie rotates frequently between the people.
Mourinho has decided on his top 11, and over the last 5 or 6 games is reluctant to change it. You saw what happened in the last match, with Drogba starting, and they weren't effective up front. Gudjohnson came on and they scored twice.
His team are going to get tired, and he knows it, hence why he is bitching baout it
Arsenal and United rotate a lot more and tend to still be effective with their rotations.

Everyone is sayiung they won't slip up, just like they said Arsenal wouldn't. What if Arsenal or Unitd beat them, won't they slip up after that? Maybe
I think their slip up will come after the Barca game, which I think they will lose more and mor as time goes on and I see Barca play more and more, and I think that will result in badness in the premiership which can be catitalised on.

TwoShedsJackson

smemon wrote:

yeah but look at their performances in those games.... hardly world class.

all 1-0's too, plus they were lucky to win some of them. for all chelsea's millions they do look very ordinary at times. their like a madrid with shape and work ethic, perhaps too much shape to win trophies.

This is precisely how Man U won many of their titles in the 90s, even when they played badly they still usually came away with the points. That's how titles are won and it's likely how Chelsea will win this one.

Raskolnikov

PHB wrote:

My argument about injuries is that Chelsea would be hit hard

And Man Utd wouldn't!?

When Utd lost Ferdinand, one man, they just leaked goals all over the place. What if Scholes gets injured or goes off the boil again? Can Ronaldo or Giggs on the wings be replaced?

Davey Devil

PHB wrote:

Maybe I think their slip up will come after the Barca game, which I think they will lose more and mor as time goes on and I see Barca play more and more, and I think that will result in badness in the premiership which can be catitalised on.

What in are you talking about? This is just jiberish talk. Just face the facts. Chelsea are the big favourites to win the title. It's not beyond the possibility of Arsenal or United to catch up. However that becoming a reality decreases as each game goes past.

Look at Chelsea's defence. It's rock solid. Only 8 goals conceeded this season. They just don't look like slipping up and haven't shown any signs of it. They have the best squad in the Premiership, injuries will affect them the least out of the top three. They have a fantastic manager who is unlikely to fall to pieces if they lose one or two games.

Even if Chelsea slip up how long can Man. Utd keep their run going? This isn't the team of 3/4 years ago. The longer the season goes on I can see Chelsea pulling away from them not the other way around.

Gileadi

PHB wrote:

Chelsea were having trouble wining games early on until Robben came around, and imo their attack is very weak against good defences.
They sit back and absord then counter with lightning qucik attacks, something which won't work as well against good teams, which will be their problem in europe, and I feel once a part of their attack gets disrupted, which I feel is bound to happen, they will stop scoring as much and draw a lot more.
Since they have become so much based on an 11 man team, this will affect them, just as the next 3 matchs will since the same people keep playing.

at the start of the season chelsea were playing lthe same system as porto were with joe cole attempting to fill in for deco,it wasnt just robbens entry that sparked the 4-0 type wins it was the fact that duff was actually starting matches also,if robben or duff were to go cole could fill in and do ok i feel

if makelele was to go theres still smertin as a defencive midfielder and tiago also played that role alot in portugal i think

even still anyteam is going to have a harder time with some of the regular players injured so i wont be so naieve as to think that it will ok,i just feel that
the damage wont be as bad as some may feel

smemon

Davey Devil wrote:

What in are you talking about? This is just jiberish talk. Just face the facts. Chelsea are the big favourites to win the title. It's not beyond the possibility of Arsenal or United to catch up. However that becoming a reality decreases as each game goes past.

Look at Chelsea's defence. It's rock solid. Only 8 goals conceeded this season. They just don't look like slipping up and haven't shown any signs of it. They have the best squad in the Premiership, injuries will affect them the least out of the top three. They have a fantastic manager who is unlikely to fall to pieces if they lose one or two games.

Even if Chelsea slip up how long can Man. Utd keep their run going? This isn't the team of 3/4 years ago. The longer the season goes on I can see Chelsea pulling away from them not the other way around.

you see this the attitude of chelsea's midtable opponents. they view chelsea as formidable, superhuman. they are frightened by chelsea and show them way too much respect. it was the same with utd in the 90's, not so much anymore and with arsenal for a couple of years too. many sides are beat in the tunnel caught looking in awe at chelsea when they should be focusing on their own game. sides change their system just to deal with certain chelsea players, all that is asking for trouble.

reality is, chelsea havn't won anything, their footballers, not aliens and have yet to be really tested in europe (knockout stages) and the league (final month or so). they havnt been together for a season so we dont yet know if they have the bottle to keep their heads come the finals of all major comps.

evilhomer

Heres what you were saying at the start of the season

there are a lot of dreamers here on the boards!
but sometimes the unexpected does happen.

I still think
1. Chelsea
2. Arsenal
3. Man Utd
4. too close to call

some chelsea players are bound to get fatigued with the consistancy that they play. Duff, Terry, Lampard, Robben play every match. Terry has played every minute of every game in the premiership!!

They will still win but they will have a stumble somwhere because they are not rotating players enough.

18. Fulham
19. Norwich
20. West Brom

sikes

smemon wrote:

you see this the attitude of chelsea's midtable opponents. they view chelsea as formidable, superhuman. they are frightened by chelsea and show them way too much respect. it was the same with utd in the 90's, not so much anymore and with arsenal for a couple of years too. many sides are beat in the tunnel caught looking in awe at chelsea when they should be focusing on their own game. sides change their system just to deal with certain chelsea players, all that is asking for trouble.

of midtable opponents? like spurs, aston villa, man city, bolton? they are the teams who have taken points off chelsea and of course arsenal.

whereas the teams at the top everton, boro, untied, liverpool and charlton have all lost.

smemon wrote:

their heads come the finals of all major comps.

so you reckon they will get to all the finals?

Gangsta

I'd like Arsenal to win it but I just don't see Chelsea dropping any points. I thought Pompy would have got a draw which they nearly did

Hopefully Barca will beat them and put the same doubt in their minds as Arsenal had after the OT game.

smemon

sikes wrote:

so you reckon they will get to all the finals?

its a possibility, depends who they play on the way. having drawn barca i think that will end their cl hopes although i myself have major doubts over barca at times but when their in full flow they'll tear apart even the greatest of defences.

they'll be in the final of the league if you like (come may) along with 2 others, plus an facup final should be in the bag provided they avoid arsenal and utd on the way.

the league cup looks to be won already. so realistically, they should be in 3 of 4 finals if not them all.

Gangsta

True, I see his point. Chelsea realistically will be in the finals of of competition.

Chucky the tree

i think the top 3 will be

1. chelsea
2.arsenal
3. united

i can only see arsenal and united switching positions. i dont chelsea will be caught. basically for united to catch them they must drop 10 points and united must win all of their remaing games, i really doubt that will happen.

chelsea players might not be experience as a team but individually they are. Look at the experience of arsenal, 1 lose and it nearly all fell too pieces, that wont happen to chelsea, the fact they wont have a 49 unbeaten record will help alot.

4 place is a fight between liverpool, boro and everton, although i think everton will slid away. i cant see any other team having the quality to challenge for 4 place.

the last UEFA cup places will be a dog fight between a load of lcubs.

relegation is a tough one. WBA are down definitly i would say. any one from blackburn down are all gonna be battling it out.

either palace of norwich will stay up, i can se bolton being in a fight at the end aswell

Boro

My OPINION

Chelsea (will run away with it)
Man Utd
Arsenal (3rd by 1 or 2 points)
Liverpool
Middlesbrough
Everton

p.pete

Lots of interesting things in this thread so far - lots of justification as to why Chelsea won't win the league. Yes they've won nothing yet but personally I thing they're in a great position in terms of confidence, squad strength, current league position, momentum and probably anything else that I can think of. I'm not convinced that they have a top-class striker, I still have doubts about Drogba - but really they're capable of scoring from anywhere on the pitch.

They started the season a little slow, maybe only winning games by the single goal margin but they proved at that stage of the season that they are able to grind out results - this ability is still there but currently they are playing with a bit more flair and grabbing a lot more goals. Should they get hit by injuries they'll still grind out results.


Everton have started their fall already. When they beat Liverpool recently they opened a 12 point gap on the local rivals, this gap is now halved and I don't believe Everton have the capability to impress as much in the 2nd half of the season as the 1st. It'd be great to see them finish in a CL place (but only if it's not at the expense of Liverpool!!!) but more realisticly I see them finishing around 6th or 7th.


Liverpool don't seem much better this season then last season although we're grasping onto everybit of hope that comes our way. Personally I'll be dissapointed with the season if we don't finish 3rd (any higher isn't going to happen) but more likely it'll be 4th or 5th behind ManU and or Boro. We'll see in the next weeks what players come in and go out and how many injuries come our way.


Man United are on a great run at the moment and if they keep it going then I can see them pushing Arsenal close for second spot. Arsenal are struggling to regain the form they've had for the last 2 years but they'll probably regain that pretty soon.

TwoShedsJackson

p.pete wrote:

Everton have started their fall already.

Oh for ****s sake they've lost one game :rolleyes: I know you're a Liverpool fan and all but come on.

p.pete

One game? they were 12 points ahead of us, now they're 6?

I was only offering it as opinion - yes I'm a pool fan but secretly I am actually happy to see Everton doing well. I know every pundit and his dog (that can be me ) is saying Everton will collapse and I hope that's not true but I'm not going to say otherwise just because I want to dare to be different.

[edit]
maybe they were only 11 points ahead of pool. They drew with Blackburn and Lost to Charlton recently (and also beat Man City) since beating us.

cournioni

1. United
2. Chelsea
3. Arsenal.

WhiteWashMan

the winner at the end of the year will be the team with the most points.

A Dub in Glasgo

WhiteWashMan wrote:

the winner at the end of the year will be the team with the most points.

... unless 2 (or more) teams finish with the same number of points, then it will go to goal difference and if that is the same, it will go down to goals scored

PHB

Really? I thought it first went to who won between the two teams, I think thats the best reflection.

A Dub in Glasgo

Head to head in the league does not come into it. If 2 teams are equal in points scored, goal difference and goals scored, a play-off will be played to decide the Champions.

I doubt that will happen this season. The SPL was decided on goals scored in 2003 (1 goal). Anyone know the closet the EPL has been since it started?


Edit Found it

1992/93 Man United by 10 points
1993/94 Man United by 8 points
1994/95 Blackburn Rovers by 1 point
1995/96 Man United by 4 points
1996/97 Man United by 7 points
1997/98 Arsenal by 1 point
1998/99 Man United by 1 point
1999/00 Man United by 18 points !!!
2000/01 Man United by 10 points
2001/02 Arsenal by 7 points
2002/03 Man United by 5 points
2003/04 Arsenal by 11 points

Big Ears

PHB wrote:

Really? I thought it first went to who won between the two teams, I think thats the best reflection.

Its like that in spain , but not in England . I prefer it co ing down to goal difference as away goals count in the head to head ie Barcelon and Espanyol finnish level on points the games between them ended Barcelona 3-3 Espanyol and Espanyol 2-2 Barcelona , Espanyol win the title on away goals in the head to head . Thats even worse than losing a title on goals scored .

A Dub in Glasgo

Just passed the half way mark and Chelsea are cementing their lead at the top. Now 7 points clear

A Dub in Glasgo

Now 10 points clear, are Chelsea going to win it by a record margin this year? The number to beat is 18.

smemon

doubt it, theyve yet to play arsenal and utd, im confident at least 1 of them will take 3 points off chelsea. the form utd are in, 12 unbeaten in the league (9 wins, 3 draws) it's looking likely they'll be the ones challenging chelsea more than arsenal.

11 points the gap at present between utd an arsenal, 4 losses needed. it's possible, especially if chelsea take their eye off the league. they'll be hungry, determined seen as they havn't won it in so long. but it's not over and arse and utd are both capable of pinning them back, theyve done it before.

if chelsea keep their 'one game at a time' mentality they WILL win the league but coming up to the later stages of other comps we might see them start to slip up in the league.

PHB

Well I figure at some point in this season,
Terry, Lampard, Duff or Makelele have to be rest.

They can't just play the entire season non stop, I hope
I figure at some point they have to be rested, or if not rested they will start to get tired, and thus drop points
Sat, 22nd H Portsmouth (PREM.)
15:00 -
Wed, 26th A Man Utd (C.C.)
20:00
Sun, 30th H Birmingham (F.A.)
16:00 -
February
Wed, 2nd A Blackburn (PREM.)
19:45 -
Sun, 6th H Man City (PREM.)
16:05
Sat, 12th A Everton (PREM.)
12:45

Maybe one of them will get a draw, I figure Everton should be able to get a draw at home, I hope.

Also they have matches on
Sat, 22nd
Wed, 26th
Sun, 30th
Wed, 2nd
Sun, 6th
Sat, 12th
Wed, 23rd
Sat, 26th

Thats two games a week, with the same top team each time, I figure weariness has to come into play.
Where this season will be decided is against Chelsea vs Arsenal.
If they go into that match and lose, they will be very tired and hopefully actually lose some games.

What excites me is the possibility that the season could be decided in a match between Chelsea and Man Utd, the second last match of the season, if Utd get to the FA Cup Semi's.
A win might win it for either Chelsea, United, or even Arsenal.

d22ontour

Big Ears wrote:

Its like that in spain , but not in England . I prefer it co ing down to goal difference as away goals count in the head to head ie Barcelon and Espanyol finnish level on points the games between them ended Barcelona 3-3 Espanyol and Espanyol 2-2 Barcelona , Espanyol win the title on away goals in the head to head . Thats even worse than losing a title on goals scored .

but that shows espanyol were the better team of the two in their head to head games against each other

head to head also works fine in the champions league groups look what liverpool had to do to get out of their group

Big Ears

d22ontour wrote:

but that shows espanyol were the better team of the two in their head to head games against each other

head to head also works fine in the champions league groups look what liverpool had to do to get out of their group

The were the better team on away goals in one game of the season , thats hardly enough to serperate a teams from the title .

Both teams scored 5 and conceaded 5 in their head to head games , and surely goal difference is a much better way to decide a title than away goals from two games .

d22ontour

goal difference in what capacity most scored or least conceded that would be biased against attacking/defensive teams

if barca scored 50 conceded 20 and espanyol scored 40 conceded 10 who gets it

Big Ears

d22ontour wrote:

goal difference in what capacity most scored or least conceded that would be biased against attacking/defensive teams

if barca scored 50 conceded 20 and espanyol scored 40 conceded 10 who gets it

first off , its the overall , goals scored - goals conceaded . This barely ever leads to teams being level (but it did happen in the SPL recently) , after this I personnaly would have a play-off at a neutral venue , but as you probably know goals scored would decide the Premiership .

Jivin Turkey

d22ontour wrote:

head to head also works fine in the champions league groups look what liverpool had to do to get out of their group

The head to head thing is a bit of a farce IMO. What happens in the event of a three way tie, where team A has a better record against team B but a worse one against team C, and team B has a better record than team C. Each have a better record against one team but worse against the other.

In league competition I cant understand what the problem was with good old fashioned goal difference. As regards the CL I do a little bit because teams can get eliminated early and field grossly understrength teams in latter matches. But I think it would be a disgrace if they brought it in.