Waiting to hear word on Abraham. Don’t care if they have to glue his shoulder in place, they need him Was hoping both Leeds and Norwich were clear for Villa’s last two games and weren’t playing for anything....villa key players could use the rest after having been in a playoff battle since early March. Now looks like Leeds will be battling to the last day and that match could end up having bigger implications.
I watched the end of Sky Sports News on Friday when games from League Championship down through National League (fifth level) were ending at the same time. It's possible games in the sixth level and lower were playing then also, but they didn't give those scores. Bolton clinched relegation to League One.
It won't. L**ds have bottled it, and will be in the playoffs. With the loss to Brentford, they're three points down to United with an inferior goal differential. Ergo, the pigs of Sheffield need only win one of their last two to secure second place. And they host Ipswich on Saturday. Leeds / Villa won't be until Sunday, by which point automatic promotion will almost surely be beyond them. They may feel motivated to get something from it, as West Brom still has an outside chance at catching them for 3rd. But I wouldn't bet a dime on Leeds to get anything from Villa.
Villa has clinched a spot in the playoffs. They're in fifth. They can't be caught by Middlesbrough in seventh. They can be caught by Derby in sixth and Bristol Rovers in eighth, but not by both of them because Bristol City hosts Derby tomorrow. West Brom and Villa could have rivalry games in the playoffs. Unless Villa falls behind a club 8 or 9 below them or West Brom passes Leeds who are 5 above them, West Brom and Villa will meet in the playoffs, with the next two games determining who finishes fourth and hosts the second leg. I'm assuming the better club hosts the second leg rather than a random draw.
Does anyone know what the league table would look like if Bolton get kicked out and the games against them expunged? their match today was postponed due to players striking. edit... thinking about it as things stand there's only really Millwall we could catch with a 5pt swing and they were W1 L1 from playing Bolton.
Leeds dominated possession and scored in the 72nd. Aston Villa got a straight red in the 75th and shocked the fans with an equalizer in the 77th. It ended 1-1, which clinched promotion for Sheffield United. The only thing left to be decided is which one of Derby, Middlesbrough, or Bristol City goes to the playoffs. To be alive going into the final game, Bristol City must get more points at Millwall on Tuesday than Derby does at Swansea on Wednesday. Given their goal differential, Derby probably needs only 3 points from 2 games to hold on. I hope games against Bolton aren't expunged. If they stopped play midway through the season, maybe expunge the games, but not if they drop out with 2 games left. Imagine a coach going into his club's last game thinking it's meaningless and a couple of days before the game finding out it's meaningful because of a change to the table unrelated to the club having done anything wrong.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/8956981/leeds-aston-villa-allow-goal-fight-bielsa-terry/ says "MARCELO BIELSA ordered his Leeds stars to let Aston Villa equalise in an amazing show of sportsmanship - as the Argentine's dream of automatic promotion ended at Elland Road." Leeds scored with an Aston Villa player down, and some of his teammates stopped playing. Leeds let Aston Villa equalize. NBC Sports Network showed Norwich City celebrating promotion. They have been relegated out of the Premier League four times, which is tied for the most times. That does not include being relegated before the top level was the Premier League. In 2013-2014 through 2015-2016, they were relegated, promoted, and relegated. 2018-2019 is their third consecutive season in League Championship. Last season they were in the bottom half in 14th.
Everyone should watch the Leeds-Villa highlights. Crazy 5 minutes. I’m biased. It did look like even several Leeds players had stopped playing prior to the first goal. Remarkable turn of events to result in the draw. The red card will be overturned...gross over-reach by AR.
Bamford basically jumped on El Ghazi's back and then went down holding his face when he tried to shake him off so the straight red will probably be rescinded. Jansson apologised at the end of the match. It's going to be proper tasty if these two meet in the playoff final.
Yesterday: Millwall 1-2 Bristol City Today: Swansea City 1-1 Derby County Given their goal differential advantage, Derby County would have almost clinched the last promotion spot with a win. Here are sixth through eighth: Derby County: 71 points, +13, 66 scored, 53 allowed Middlesbrough: 70 points, +7, 47 scored, 40 allowed Bristol City: 69 points, +6, 58 scored, 52 allowed There are 3^3 = 27 possibilities. If Bristol City wins, Derby County draws, and Middlesbrough draws or loses, Derby County and Bristol City will be tied with 72 and Middlesbrough will have 71 or 70. I'm assuming that Bristol City won't win by at least 7 to catch Derby County's goal differential, which won't change if they draw to reach 72. Derby County gets sixth in 19 combinations, Middlesbrough gets sixth in 6 combinations, and Bristol City gets sixth in 2 combinations. Here are the combinations for the latter two and the points as Derby County-Middlesbrough-Bristol City: Middlesbrough: 1. Win, Derby County draws, and Bristol City wins (72-73-72) 2. Win, Derby County draws, and Bristol City draws (72-73-70) 3. Win, Derby County draws, and Bristol City loses (72-73-69) 4. Win, Derby County loses, and Bristol City wins (71-73-72) 5. Win, Derby County loses, and Bristol City draws (71-73-70) 6. Win, Derby County loses, and Bristol City loses (71-73-69) Bristol City: 1. Win, Derby County loses, and Middlesbrough draws (71-71-72) 2. Win, Derby County loses, and Middlesbrough loses (71-70-72) On Saturday at 12:30 P.M. local/7:30 A.M. USA Eastern/6:30 A.M. USA Central: Derby County vs. West Brom (4th with 80 points) Hull City (13th with 61 points) vs. Bristol City Rotherham United (22nd and relegated with 40 points) vs. Middlesbrough
Bolton have been awarded with a 1-0 loss for not turning up to play Brentford, if we do the same against Middlesbrough we'll probably finish the season with a better goal difference.
Good thing Villa rested Hourihane last game, got him ready to sit on bench for 67 minutes and allow his replacement to get the assist on the WBA goal.
When West Brom led 1-0 with the game almost over, I assumed they would advance on away goals. When I came back to see it was going to extra time, I was happy because I'm rooting for Aston Villa. Nobody scored in extra time. West Brom failed on their first two penalties. Aston Villa shot second and had their first failure on the fourth kick. West Brom made their fifth kick to tie it, and Aston Villa made their fifth kick to win 4-3. Chris Brunt, who has a long tenure for West Brom, got a second yellow in the 80th minute. Leeds hosts Derby tomorrow. Leeds won 1-0 away. The Final will be on Monday May 27.
Even before the red Villa was dominating stats, but not necessarily the play. 15-4 in corners, 74% possession but WBA would not allow a goal. Ball rarely on the other half of field in the extra periods but Villa looked tentative, IMO. Two good stops on PKs for Steer. Hoping this year is the charm.
Leeds 2-4 Derby (3-4 aggregate) Leeds blew their chance at promotion. Derby won only 1 game the last time they were in the Premier League in 2007-2008. Their 11 points were under a third of Birmingham City, who was 19th with 35. Their -69 goal differential was farther from 0 than Man United, who won the title and led in goal differential at +58. The three worst goal differentials (not the three worst clubs) other than Derby added to -70. In 2010-2011, the Premier League goal differentials ranged from +41 to -27, which is 68, which isn't as far as Derby was below 0 in 2007-2008.