SaintTex

depending on your world view this will either depress or impress: http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/premier-league/2015-2016/between-dates Use start date as 17 08 2015 and end as 15 05 2016 Finish in 4th place if you eliminate the results of first two matches of the season for everyone..... 36 game season.

Nice summary. So, no matter what; we root for Bournemouth to win on Tuesday. That result will depend on who/if we root for on Saturday. If ManU wins or draws Tuesday, we finish in 6th place and we root for ManU to win the FA Cup Saturday, which would get us into group stage. If ManU loses Tuesday, we finish in 5th place, are automatically in the group stage and have no rooting interest; unless you feel 01) pretty strongly about sticking it to West Ham, 02) want to revel in ManU having to playing in a 3rd qualifying round or 3) like the idea of underdog Palace getting a trophy and group stage Europa.

A couple of points: 01) Pelle has been instrumental to the club's success these past two years. To deny it is crazy. 02) If we can't get more than 10 million for his transfer I would consider keeping him this year and let him be a free agent at the end of next season (if he is ok with that). His value on the pitch for an entire season is worth more than a 6 million transfer fee. 03) He showed pure class going over the bench and including KDavis in the goal celebration. He embraced this club the minute he arrived here and shown nothing but respect and class. Some time in the near future when he is no longer with the team, we are suddenly going to realize how much we miss that perfect hair, the big smile and the pure joy he always shows after a goal score. 04) If he desires to go to Italy (his home country) to finish off his career on a high point, I don't blame him one bit. The guy has earned it.

it is an interesting point. If Stones had been a Southampton player and £40m had been offered, it would have been accepted and he would have been off to Chelsea. And that £40m would have bought 3 really good players strengthening the squad. Everton dug in. They chose poorly and finished at the back half of the table. We would be a much different club right now (and likely worse for it) if we had dug in and retained Shaw, Chambers, Lambert, Lovren and Lallana 2 years ago. actually if you look at everyone we have lost in the last 2 years, who has not had a dip in career form? only Alderweireld and I guess you could include Poch in that.

this has been the clearest explanation I have seen. come Sunday, the two biggest things to root for: We win Wham loses or draws ManU losing would be nice but not as important as the other two happening.

that Liverpool lineup is pretty strong. Klopp is going for the win here. Will be interesting to see what the starting XI is on Sunday against WBA. Players must be tired. Since the beginning of April, Liverpool has or will have had a mid-week match every week until the end of their season. 7 weeks/7 additional matches ending at the Europa Final.

Well it is pretty easy to convince yourself of anything. I will say for Liverpool; WBA away, with the Europa League Final to play 72 hours later in Switzerland, is a tricky game. To add, Klopp's history suggests his teams lose focus on League play as they advance deep into tournaments. What do you think Liverpool's Starting XI is going to look like on Sunday? Those Liverpool tears are going to be delicious if they manage to find away to not be in the CL or EL next year.

NO COMPARISON 2014-2015 Tadic : 7 goals / 12 assists | Lallana 4 goals / 6 assists 2015-2016 Tadic : 4 goals / 7 assists | Lallana 5 goals / 3 assists https://d2zywfiolv4f83.cloudfront.net/img/blog/2016%2f5%2fTadic2Columns(1).jpg look at his form the last 4 games! When was the last time any player had 5 assists in two games? and that heat map speaks to his defensive prowess

for all the apparent whining and complaining there has been in regards to Tadic this year, statistically, he is having a much better year this year than last 2014/2015: 4 goals | 7 assists in 2046 min. 2015/2016: 7 goals | 12 assists in 2221 min. Tadic is what makes the offense go.

Name the teams that have this record over their last 6 matches 2 wins | 3 draws | 1 loss 9 points Newcastle, Sunderland, and..... Tottenham . . ..oh, and West Ham, but it is not as amusing if I had included them.

58% chance for 6th or better if we beat Palace. Aren't you the same poster who said our maximum points this season will be 50 in the lead up to the Stoke match? You must be staggered already.

it's pretty easy folks. 01) Root for Saints to get two more wins to finish 7th. 02) Root for Man U to win the FA Cup. 03) Root for Liverpool's opponents in League play so they finish 8th. and finally, 04) root for Liverpool to lose in the 90th minute to Seville in the Europa League Championship - So that they will go from the cusp of qualifying for CL to not being in Europe at all.

draw 01) Spurs lose the title / Leicester Champions 02) Secures third straight Top 8 finish for us 03) easiest path to 6 more points and a possible European chance However, for pure promotional value and optics, I am sure the League and media want a Spurs win today and Saturday. There isn't much excitement or pageantry seeing Leicester secure the title from their couch. ...and that would be neat to see a title clinching moment/celebration on the pitch, but better safe than sorry, I will be rooting for Spurs not to win tonight.

Stoke W Liverpool W Leicester L Newcastle W Everton D Aston Villa W Man City W 5-1-1 (16 points out of 21 since this post) averaging 2.4 goals per game during this run.

Another win and we match last year's point total. - 60 points 2 wins or 1 win and a draw we surpass last year's point total. - 61 or 63 points. Who is the only team that has 3 players in the top 20 goal scorers in the League so far? The team that has Mane (16th), Pelle (17th), and Long (18th). Each with 10 goals each.

Doh! Indeed. Seems like a reasonable request. Other Leagues seem to bend over backwards to accommodate their teams involved in other competitions. I mean this is the CL semi-finals! You think it would be in the leagues interest to help City out. Doesn't adversely affect us one way or the other either. What gives? I am sure the extra day of rest would be helpful to Man City (after getting smashed by us).

Well, for CL qualification, the better bet is League, but they are 2 games/wins away from being CL winners/Champions. You go for that!!! ..and let the chips fall where they may for League. You rest players on Saturday. As other said, especially if you are MP, heading out the door. You work toward a rested, full strength squad/players on the Semi second leg. Everything else doesn't matter.

Leicester is going to get two cracks at the 3 points to clinch it, before we play Spurs on Sunday (8/5). ManU Everton

Spurs are closer to 4th place than they are 1st place. 7 points from Leicester 5 points from Arsenal

it's interesting to compare the last three seasons 2013-2014 : 15W 11D 12L | 54 46 +8 --- 56 points -- 8th place 2014-2015 : 18W 06D 14L | 54 33 +21 -- 60 points -- 7th place 2015-2016 : 15W 09D 11L | 49 37 +12 -- 54 points -- 8th place (thru 35 games) very little drop off, even if we go out with a whimper in our last three matches. pretty remarkable considering the turnover in the squad.

take the 3 points and then quickly forget about it. no clean sheets in 8 matches is troubling. I expect Koeman to set up much more defensively next week. Maybe a Wanyama/Romeu pairing. Mane, with fresh legs off the bench halfway through a 2nd half, would scare the hell out of most defenses. Hope Real Madrid give Man City a rough and tumble game on Tuesday (wish they were playing Wed) with a 0-0 draw. City destroyed Stoke today, but Stoke is folding like a cheap suit at this point.

a match and a half.. 2 goals and 4 off the woodwork.

From the article: Don't you just love the lens that filters these stories. but the takeaway in regards to 8th place is: I literally could not take the slobbering and fawning that would occur if Liverpool wins the Europa League and qualifies for CL.

Europa was frustrating, but understandable. The team was so unsettled during that period, especially defensively. No Van Dijk yet, Wanyama's head turned by Arse/Spurs, Caulker was our 2nd best CB!!, etc. Plus, Clasie, Bertrand, and Forster were out injured. Summer transfer period needs to end before the season starts. ugh, I went back and looked at our Starting XI for that second Midtjylland match. Stek Martina Fonte Caulker Yoshida Targett JWP Romeu Davis JRod Pelle no wonder we didn't advance to the group stages.

Kind of a big night, no? Three matches - pretty cut and dry - root for the away team! WHam v. Watford Liverpool v. Everton Manu v. Palace I would kill for a clean sweep.