18 - Newcastle 19 - Boro 20 - WBA Seems to be between Portsmouth and Newcastle for the last spot. Newcastle have tough schedule. They play Arsenal and Chelsea at home and Liverpool and Villa away. They need to get a point April 11 at Stoke. Boro have Villa and ManU at home and are away to Arsenal. They have a huge match at Stoke next Saturday. But Stoke are tough at home. They lead the bottom half of the Prem with 7 home victories. If they beat both Boro and Toon they will be close to safety. Pompey have Everton and Arsenal home and ManU away. They need a point at Newcastle on April 27. If they win there they probably will stay up, if they lose they may not.
I think that Newcastle are going to get up out of the bottom. First off, I think that Bolton (7 pts clear of bottom 3) and Stoke (6 pts clear of bottom 3) are safe at this point. Given all the games amongst the bottom clubs and the number of clubs that would all have to rise to over take Bolton or Stoke, I just don't see it happening. So we're looking among the following. 14. Portsmouth... 34 pts, -14 gd 15. Hull City.... 34 pts, -19 gd 16. Blackburn.... 34 pts, -19 gd 17. Sunderland... 32 pts, -13 gd -------------- 18. Newcastle.... 30 pts, -15 gd 19. Middlesbrough 30 pts, -22 gd -------------- 20. West Brom In my opinion, West Brom are already going down - no further discussion of them needed. Portsmouth - v Bolton, @ ManU, @ Newcastle, v Arsenal, @ Blackburn, v Sunderland, @ Wigan -- 3 left at home, 4 on the road - I wouldn't expect more than 4 points from 9 at home giving them 38 if they don't get a single point on the road. Hull City - @ Sunderland, v Liverpool, @ Aston Villa, v Stoke City, @ Bolton, v ManU -- 3 home and 3 away. No points expected from Liverpool, Aston Villa, Bolton or ManU. Their season actually could hinge on their next game at Sunderland - a point there (more importantly, denying Sunderland 2) could be huge. Also they MUST win their home match against Stoke - but I think a point is more likely. Given their recent run of form, they could wind up on 35 gaining nothing more than a single point against Stoke. Blackburn - @ Stoke, v Wigan, @ Man City, v Portsmouth, @ Chelsea, v West Brom - Gotta figure nothing from Stoke, Man City and Chelsea games. But they're probably gonna get 6 from Wigan and Portsmouth giving them 40 on the year. Even if they only get a point from Wigan, then a point or 3 from West Brom in their last game would give them 39 or 41 on the year. Sunderland - v Hull, @ West Brom, v Everton, @ Bolton, @ Portsmouth, v Chelsea - 3 points from Hull and 1 point from West Brom could be their last points of the year giving them 36 on the year. Newcastle - @ Tottenham, v Portsmouth, @ Liverpool, v Middlesbrough, v Fulham, @ Aston Villa - 7 points from their 3 remaining home matches (and a full 9 is actually quite realistic) puts them on 37 assuming they get nothing from the away matches (also a reasonable assumption). Middlebrough - v Fulham, @ Arsenal, v ManU, @ Newcastle, v Aston Villa, @ West Ham - You can't expect points against Arsenal or ManU. Perhaps 1 against Aston Villa since they're slumping, nothing expected at Newcastle or West Ham. Perhaps a full 3 against Fulham - that would put them on 34 - at best I see them on 36 points. Final standings 14. Blackburn.... 39 pts 15. Portsmouth... 38 pts 16. Newcastle.... 37 pts 17. Sunderland... 36 pts -------------- 18. Hull City.... 36 pts 19. Middlesbrough 36 pts 20. West Brom If all the others play out, my guess is that Sunderland v Hull this weekend decides 17-18. If Sunderland takes 3 points at home, Sunderland beats the drop on goal difference. If they split the points, then Hull beats the drop.
seems realistic, but I think you are giving Newcastle too much leeway... just cause Messiah Part deux has arrived does not make me change my mind... (9 point realistic? ) I expect them to win against Boro, that 3 points... a lose at Liverpool, Aston Villa, Fulham and Spurs seems assured... a point at Portsmouth and that comes to 4 points... Boro will be lucky to come out with a point from the remaining games... there only chance is at Newcastle so they are going down. Hull could get a point from Sunderland and Stoke they still have a small chance at Bolton and /me thinks that if their survival comes down to a win at Bolton, they could nick it with a point at least. With that said, I still believe Newcastle, Boro and West Brom will go down... lets see how my prediction....
Well, two rounds left and Blackburn need only 1 point or to hold onto their goal differential advantage over Hull to clinch safety. 15. Portsmouth... 38 pts, -20 gd 16. Sunderland... 36 pts, -17 gd 17. Newcastle.... 34 pts, -17 gd -------------- 18. Hull City.... 34 pts, -24 gd 19. Middlesbrough 31 pts, -26 gd 20. West Brom 31 pts, -29 gd Portsmouth - v Sunderland, @ Wigan -- I had indicated earlier that I saw them getting to 38 and that's where they are. 38 will almost certainly keep them save. Sunderland - @ Portsmouth, v Chelsea -- I felt that getting to 36 would see them stay up. They're still not clear - two losses combined with a shock win from Hull over Bolton could still see Sunderland go down. But given the goal difference situation, just a single point at Portsmouth sees them safe. Given that it also clinches safety for Portsmouth, you may see Portsmouth playing not to lose rather than to win and Sunderland could just see a point taken. Newcastle - v Fulham, @ Aston Villa -- out of the bottom 3 on goal difference and given Hull's form and remaining schedule they could very well stay there. A win this week against Fulham virtually clinches staying up, but a point would be very nice. Hull City - @ Bolton, v ManU -- I suggested in my earlier post that they may only take 1 point from their remaining games by taking a point against either Hull or Sunderland. In fact, they've taken none. With a road game and a game against ManU, they're going down. Middlebrough - v Aston Villa, @ West Ham -- Done after today. They'd have to take 4 points from these two games and hope Newcastle don't get any more. West Brom - v Liverpool, @ Blackburn -- I didn't even list their schedule when I last posted, but a valiant run have given them a shot. But Newcastle's win today probably shuts the door on them. Like Boro, they'd have to have 4-6 points from their last two and hope Newcastle & Hull take none. Final standings 15. Portsmouth... 39 pts 16. Newcastle.... 37 pts 17. Sunderland... 37 pts -------------- 18. Hull City.... 34 pts 19. Middlesbrough 31 pts 20. West Brom 31 pts For once, one of my predictions threads is actually playing out very close to predicted. The Sunderland v. Hull game on 4/18 is turning out to be a decider. Sunderland is staying clear and Hull is going down largely due to the 3 points for Sunderland and 0 for Hull that day.
I think the current bottom three will go down. Newcastle will stay up just through Hull and Boro being so ********ing awful.
Wow, thrilled to see Fulham win yesterday, but it's really surprising that Newcastle just couldn't get it together. Did they get robbed on the goal disallowed - probably. But you still gotta perform. Portsmouth is already officially safe and West Brom is officially relegated. Boro is all but relegated given their goal differential deficite to Hull. Sunderland is still in it unless they get a win tomorrow. A point tomorrow isn't enough to be safe.
West Brom is done, I think Middlesbrough is a safe bet as well. That leaves Newcastle and Hull, I doubt both will win so Sunderland will be safe. I'm putting my money on Hull to go down, ManU will drop the stars but the second team in all likelyhood will be to good for hull. At best I see them getting a draw. Given the importance of the game and Aston Villas not so great home record I see Newcastle getting at least a draw which keeps them safe on goal difference. I hope I'm wrong, I'm a bit sick of Newcastle to be honest. Bottom 3 Hull Boro West Brom
You were wrong as Hull City survived and Newcastle United, Middlesbrough, and West Bromwich Albion got relegated.
Honestly, any team that leaves Jonás Gutierrez rotting on a bench deserves to be relegated. Good riddance.
Any team who plays an attacking player who never scores and has no end product whatsoever is going to be relegated eventually.
Who said he had to do it all? But it's a pretty big flaw in an attacking player, especially one that plays on the wing that his shooting and crossing are rubbish.
Well, the thing is that when I see him playing for the Argentine NT, he doesn't specifically play on the role of an "attacking player" per se. I see him more as a mixed midfielder with lots of heart and energy who also has assisting capabilities and I've even seen him scoring once or twice for his NT. So if he was given the strarting spot at his team, I'm sure more of these type of performances could be seen.