Race for The Premier League - 2024/25

[GingerCollins29]

1 hour ago, Jareth said:

I know, but I mean if this season unfolds like the last, the big six is another year away from ever existing, they really will need a new definition to describe the clubs that compete at the top of the table. 

They will still be big 6 in terms of revenue

[Pinebro]

1 hour ago, Made In Aston said:

Hopefully we play Man Utd before ten hag gets sacked. 

He did the double on us last season

Doesn't really matter who they have in charge.

A bigger bogey fixture than Villa - Man Utd don't exist

[Captain_Townsend]

11 minutes ago, Pinebro said:

He did the double on us last season

Doesn't really matter who they have in charge.

A bigger bogey fixture than Villa - Man Utd don't exist

We have beaten twice since 2021. They don't quite have the hex on us that they used to

Edited September 1 by Captain_Townsend

[Delphinho123]

City, Arsenal and Liverpool are still better than us and will finish above us. 

Then there is the race for 4th. I imagine it will be between Villa, Spurs, Chelsea, United, Newcastle and Brighton. My early take on these teams:

Villa: We should be sat on 9 points. Impressive start albeit a hard fought win against Leicester. Issues defensively still. 
Spurs: Don't look much different from last season. Angeball is Murderball. They've got some very good players. Will do well to finish above them.
Chelsea: On paper, strong. In reality, who knows. Good side who will finish in the top 8.
Newcastle: A poor window for them BUT they are a strong side. If they stay injury free, they have enough to go toe to toe with us. Botman coming back will be a big boost for them.
Brighton: The wild card of the bunch. Great start but let's see.
United: I think they're the worst of the bunch. Might have slightly improved on last season but they're a mess at the back. A lot will depend on how good Ugarte turns out to be. They have serious issues in that midfield and the striker they signed looks very average (limited data set). 

[nepal_villan]

1 hour ago, Delphinho123 said:

City, Arsenal and Liverpool are still better than us and will finish above us. 

Then there is the race for 4th. I imagine it will be between Villa, Spurs, Chelsea, United, Newcastle and Brighton. My early take on these teams:

Villa: We should be sat on 9 points. Impressive start albeit a hard fought win against Leicester. Issues defensively still. 
Spurs: Don't look much different from last season. Angeball is Murderball. They've got some very good players. Will do well to finish above them.
Chelsea: On paper, strong. In reality, who knows. Good side who will finish in the top 8.
Newcastle: A poor window for them BUT they are a strong side. If they stay injury free, they have enough to go toe to toe with us. Botman coming back will be a big boost for them.
Brighton: The wild card of the bunch. Great start but let's see.
United: I think they're the worst of the bunch. Might have slightly improved on last season but they're a mess at the back. A lot will depend on how good Ugarte turns out to be. They have serious issues in that midfield and the striker they signed looks very average (limited data set). 

It will come down to consistency.  That's where we have an advantage over our peer group.

[Pinebro]

1 hour ago, Captain_Townsend said:

We have beaten twice since 2021. They don't quite have the hex on us that they used to

In their worst ever period in my lifetime we still have an awful record against them 

It's just depressing 

Even now I have no confidence going into these games 

[VillaChris]

3 hours ago, Pinebro said:

He did the double on us last season

Doesn't really matter who they have in charge.

A bigger bogey fixture than Villa - Man Utd don't exist

I think we'll beat them at VP. Rogers v Casemiro is going to be highly amusing.

Old Trafford different as we always wilt when under pressure there but at least it's the last game so hopefully as irrelevant for us as Palace was.

[mikeyp102]

11 hours ago, VillaChris said:

I think we'll beat them at VP. Rogers v Casemiro is going to be highly amusing.

Old Trafford different as we always wilt when under pressure there but at least it's the last game so hopefully as irrelevant for us as Palace was.

Imagine going into last game of season, a win for either team confirms top 4. 

[Stevo985]

15 hours ago, Delphinho123 said:

City, Arsenal and Liverpool are still better than us and will finish above us. 

Then there is the race for 4th. I imagine it will be between Villa, Spurs, Chelsea, United, Newcastle and Brighton. My early take on these teams:

Villa: We should be sat on 9 points. Impressive start albeit a hard fought win against Leicester. Issues defensively still. 
Spurs: Don't look much different from last season. Angeball is Murderball. They've got some very good players. Will do well to finish above them.
Chelsea: On paper, strong. In reality, who knows. Good side who will finish in the top 8.
Newcastle: A poor window for them BUT they are a strong side. If they stay injury free, they have enough to go toe to toe with us. Botman coming back will be a big boost for them.
Brighton: The wild card of the bunch. Great start but let's see.
United: I think they're the worst of the bunch. Might have slightly improved on last season but they're a mess at the back. A lot will depend on how good Ugarte turns out to be. They have serious issues in that midfield and the striker they signed looks very average (limited data set). 

I assumed this topic was a joke.

Nobody actually believes we'll win the league do they?

[ender4]

4 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

Nobody actually believes we'll win the league do they?

No of course not. But let us dream at the start of each season haha!

Really it’s the race for CL qualification again, which hopefully will be 5th place.

[Captain_Townsend]

I fear no other team and rule nothing out until its mathematically impossible. 

[PaulC]

33 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

I assumed this topic was a joke.

Nobody actually believes we'll win the league do they?

No chance. More of a chance last season when we had no champions league and Man City were struggling a bit. 

[useless]

During lockdown there was a Premier League thread to track our general progress, and was very useful and was used a lot, as a lot of points are more general and don't fit in a specific thread, so people end up putting them in threads like this, or in seasons gone by relegation thread, even if the essence fo their point isn't really related to us winning the league or being relegated

[TheFish]

15 hours ago, Delphinho123 said:

City, Arsenal and Liverpool are still better than us and will finish above us. 

Then there is the race for 4th. I imagine it will be between Villa, Spurs, Chelsea, United, Newcastle and Brighton. My early take on these teams:

Villa: We should be sat on 9 points. Impressive start albeit a hard fought win against Leicester. Issues defensively still. 
Spurs: Don't look much different from last season. Angeball is Murderball. They've got some very good players. Will do well to finish above them.
Chelsea: On paper, strong. In reality, who knows. Good side who will finish in the top 8.
Newcastle: A poor window for them BUT they are a strong side. If they stay injury free, they have enough to go toe to toe with us. Botman coming back will be a big boost for them.
Brighton: The wild card of the bunch. Great start but let's see.
United: I think they're the worst of the bunch. Might have slightly improved on last season but they're a mess at the back. A lot will depend on how good Ugarte turns out to be. They have serious issues in that midfield and the striker they signed looks very average (limited data set). 

Biggest boost for us is not having the added fixtures from Europe. I think that because of the frustrations around this window, the exec board and the owners will want to flex in January, more than we'd normally like to. I don't think we'll finish 4th, too many other good sides who've strengthened. 

 

[VillaChris]

3 minutes ago, TheFish said:

Biggest boost for us is not having the added fixtures from Europe. I think that because of the frustrations around this window, the exec board and the owners will want to flex in January, more than we'd normally like to. I don't think we'll finish 4th, too many other good sides who've strengthened. 

 

You'll be up there just on your home form. Already found ways to win two tricky openers at SJP. Had a major dip last winter at home when Forest did you badly on Boxing Day but finished the season strongly.

[oishiiniku_uk]

17 hours ago, Delphinho123 said:

City, Arsenal and Liverpool are still better than us and will finish above us. 

Then there is the race for 4th. I imagine it will be between Villa, Spurs, Chelsea, United, Newcastle and Brighton. My early take on these teams:

Villa: We should be sat on 9 points. Impressive start albeit a hard fought win against Leicester. Issues defensively still. 
Spurs: Don't look much different from last season. Angeball is Murderball. They've got some very good players. Will do well to finish above them.
Chelsea: On paper, strong. In reality, who knows. Good side who will finish in the top 8.
Newcastle: A poor window for them BUT they are a strong side. If they stay injury free, they have enough to go toe to toe with us. Botman coming back will be a big boost for them.
Brighton: The wild card of the bunch. Great start but let's see.
United: I think they're the worst of the bunch. Might have slightly improved on last season but they're a mess at the back. A lot will depend on how good Ugarte turns out to be. They have serious issues in that midfield and the striker they signed looks very average (limited data set). 

Some other positive stuff (for us!) about the top 4 rivals:

Spurs: Only 2 away wins since December last year (Sheff Utd and some other team though I can't remember who...). Took almost 50 percent of their points last season from teams in the bottom six (flat track bullies). Angeball = lots of possession and low quality chances if teams sit deep.
Chelsea: I still think it's a bunch of individuals rather than a team. Let's see what happens when they hit their first bump in the road. Fernandez is destined to be the new scapegoat (they had their best form when he was out of the team last season).
Newcastle: 1 ppg away from home last season. They seem to be trying to transition to a less high-intensity style now, but are not very good at playing out from the back (Pope is bad with his feet). Should have 2 .5 pts so far based on their xG/xGA differential.
Brighton: Wouldn't have drawn with Arsenal without the red card, but a decent start overall. Dangerous in attack, but they'll give up a lot of chances (not convinced that their defence or midfield is that solid).
United: I think they'll continue to be a car crash so long as they keep Ten Hag or hire Southgate (fingers crossed!). Ugarte likely isn't a transformative player who can cover the massive spaces in their midfield on his own. They've spent a fair bit on sub-elite/high-potential players this summer.
West Ham: Will be in the mix. I don't think that they've bought that impressively considering what they've spent, but the overall quality level is increased and they have a number of very good players (Kudus, Bowen, Paqueta, Alvarez etc.). Think they'll be top 7.

Edited September 2 by oishiiniku_uk

[TheFish]

1 hour ago, VillaChris said:

You'll be up there just on your home form. Already found ways to win two tricky openers at SJP. Had a major dip last winter at home when Forest did you badly on Boxing Day but finished the season strongly.

Having Pope back made a big difference in the run in. Hopefully he stays fit because, despite having about a thousand back up keepers, there isn't one amongst them that I'd happily rely on.

What's your keeper situation like, have you signed a new deputy for Martinez? He's so important to how you play.

[El Segundo]

21 hours ago, Delphinho123 said:

City, Arsenal and Liverpool are still better than us and will finish above us. 

Then there is the race for 4th. I imagine it will be between Villa, Spurs, Chelsea, United, Newcastle and Brighton. My early take on these teams:

Villa: We should be sat on 9 points. Impressive start albeit a hard fought win against Leicester. Issues defensively still. 
Spurs: Don't look much different from last season. Angeball is Murderball. They've got some very good players. Will do well to finish above them.
Chelsea: On paper, strong. In reality, who knows. Good side who will finish in the top 8.
Newcastle: A poor window for them BUT they are a strong side. If they stay injury free, they have enough to go toe to toe with us. Botman coming back will be a big boost for them.
Brighton: The wild card of the bunch. Great start but let's see.
United: I think they're the worst of the bunch. Might have slightly improved on last season but they're a mess at the back. A lot will depend on how good Ugarte turns out to be. They have serious issues in that midfield and the striker they signed looks very average (limited data set). 

Decent summary although I have my suspicions that Liverpool may still be on Klopp auto-pilot.  Newcastle and Spurs are strong at home but seem vulnerable away from home, and United just seem to be a team without a plan or playing style.  They are lucky to have even 3 points.  The longer ETH stays the better chance we have of finishing above them.  

[VillaChris]

7 hours ago, TheFish said:

Having Pope back made a big difference in the run in. Hopefully he stays fit because, despite having about a thousand back up keepers, there isn't one amongst them that I'd happily rely on.

What's your keeper situation like, have you signed a new deputy for Martinez? He's so important to how you play.

Nope, Olsen to come in again if/when.

[rodders129]

19 hours ago, oishiiniku_uk said:

Some other positive stuff (for us!) about the top 4 rivals:

Spurs: Only 2 away wins since December last year (Sheff Utd and some other team though I can't remember who...). Took almost 50 percent of their points last season from teams in the bottom six (flat track bullies). Angeball = lots of possession and low quality chances if teams sit deep.
Chelsea: I still think it's a bunch of individuals rather than a team. Let's see what happens when they hit their first bump in the road. Fernandez is destined to be the new scapegoat (they had their best form when he was out of the team last season).
Newcastle: 1 ppg away from home last season. They seem to be trying to transition to a less high-intensity style now, but are not very good at playing out from the back (Pope is bad with his feet). Should have 2 .5 pts so far based on their xG/xGA differential.
Brighton: Wouldn't have drawn with Arsenal without the red card, but a decent start overall. Dangerous in attack, but they'll give up a lot of chances (not convinced that their defence or midfield is that solid).
United: I think they'll continue to be a car crash so long as they keep Ten Hag or hire Southgate (fingers crossed!). Ugarte likely isn't a transformative player who can cover the massive spaces in their midfield on his own. They've spent a fair bit on sub-elite/high-potential players this summer.
West Ham: Will be in the mix. I don't think that they've bought that impressively considering what they've spent, but the overall quality level is increased and they have a number of very good players (Kudus, Bowen, Paqueta, Alvarez etc.). Think they'll be top 7.

I think we have a really good opportunity to get top 4 again.

I agree with El Segundu re Liverpool…it’s all rosy at the moment but the true test will be when the novelty of Slot wears off and they have to face some adversity. Chelsea are an even more extreme example for me. I suspect that they will fold under pressure and not have the togetherness or character to stay consistent.

Spurs will struggle with the extra European games imo. Ange is totally intransigent so there’s not adaptation in intensity or style. I can see them flaming out.

Utd’s best chance are a new manager bounce before Christmas. The players will do what they always do, respond to a new manager and go on a run only to drift back next season. Hoping ETH stays as long as possible.

For me Newcastle were the threat but they have been pretty unimpressive so far and look like their away form will be patch again.

Bookies have already elevated Villa above Man U in race for top 4 but still firmly behind the other 7. At 4/1 I like the odds!