by Wonderwall » Thu May 21, 2015 9:01 am
Champions League
Well top 4 seems to be already in the correct order unless the rags win by a large margin and Arsenal lose.
3. Arse Points 72GD +32GF 67GA35
4. Rags Points 69GD +25GF62GA 37
Europa League
The battle for the Europa league places can still be a bone of contention as if Villa upset the apple cart in the FA Cup final, then the 7th place team will not qualify. As things stand the 5th place is automatic, 6th is courtesy of the Chelsea winning the League Cup and 7th will be given the spot if Arsenal win the FA Cup.
5. ScousePoints 62GD +09GF 51GA 42
6. Spuds Points 61GD +04GF 57GA 53
7. Saints Points 60GD +23GF 54GA 31
As an aside, West Ham will also be in Europa qualifying as England qualified in the top 3 countries for Fair Play and have been handed one of the fair play places by Eufa. The team currently in pole position who are not already in Europe are West Ham, so unless they have a complete melt down at the weekend they will be in Europe next season.
Relegation Fodder
It's down the 2 teams for the final berth, with Burney and QPR already down, the final games for Newcastle and Hull are going to be very nervous!!
17. Newc Points 36GD -25GF 38GA 63
18. Tigers Points 34GD -18GF 33GA 51
19. Clarets Points 30GD -26GF 27GA 53
20. Hoops Points 30GD -27GF 41GA 68
Fixtures
Newcastle United v West Ham United
Hull City v Ragchester United
Form last 10
Hull - DDLLLWWLLL
New - LLLLLLLLDL
It doesnt look great for any of them TBH, but I cannot see Newcastle getting anything, especially as Fat Sam will go there and would like nothing more than to send down Mike Ashley after the way he was treated when he was the Newcastle boss.
Hull on the other hand have managed to scrape a couple of wins in their last 5 and two good ones as well against Liverpool and Palace, it all depends if they can get themselves up for it, the rags will already be on the beach and Van Goul probably has his mind on the saxophonist still.
A really tough one to call, lets hope at least for some drama!
Promotion
Play Off Final is on Bank Holiday Monday. not sure who I would want here to be honest? A chance to get one back over boro would be nice, but not sure which I would want? A trip to the Riverside or Carrow Rd. I know Kippax lives over Norwich way and he travels the globe watching City, so I will go for Norwich just so he can have a local game for once.
The Teams
Norwich v Middlesbrough
Form last 10
Canaries - WWWWWLDWDW
The Boro - LWLWWWLDWW
Norwich and Boro finished 3rd and 4th in the Championship and only separated by 1 point, so its a fitting final to see who will play in the premier league next season.
Norwich beat Ipswich in a local derby in the semi final, with both legs were very close and only a sending off in the second leg swung the game in Norwich's favour. Ipswich's Christophe Berra was sent off for handling Nathan Redmond's shot and Wes Hoolahan scored from the spot. It was still a close game but Norwich made their 1 man advantage count and ran out 3-1 winners on the day and 4-2 on aggregate.
Boro cruised through their semi final beating Brentford 5-1 on aggregate and didn't really seem in any trouble in either leg. Cant help but think that Brentfords chairman didn't help things, he announced back in February that the manager (Mark Warburton) who got them promoted to the Championship last season and guided them to the play offs this season, would not be at the helm next season! This was despite the fact of the fantastic job he had done and that they were in contention for a place in the premier league, it must have had some kind of bearing on the form, surely? Boro however, will be without Chelsea striker Bamford next season, or so it seems, he has said he wants to go back to Chelsea and fight for his place, he will be a massive miss for Boro as he has been in great form this season. However, he will be the "one to watch" at Wembley.