The race for 86 points

[mudshark]

We took 11 points from the reverse fixtures. Chelsea, of course, secured all 18 from theirs. It's a testament to this side that there's not actually too many of the usual Ѕpursy results to look back ruefully on over the season that, had they gone differently, we could be looking at a much more interesting situation just now, but two do stand out: the 0-0 away at Sunderland during Vertonghen's absence and drawing at home with Leicester when they were still complete dogѕhіt. Ah, well ... still in there with a squeak. Need to make a strong statement Wednesday night.

 

[Whiffler]

Those who cannot overtake us - as at 22nd April (alphabetically) :-

Bournemouth
Burnley
Crystal Palace
Everton
Hull
Leicester
Middlesbrough
Southampton
Stoke
Sunderland
Swansea
Watford
West Brom
West Ham
​

Unlikely to change for 2-3 matches - 8 pts for us drops Arse & Liverwhinge

 

[Finney Is Back]

Those who cannot overtake us - as at 22nd April (alphabetically) :-

Bournemouth
Burnley
Crystal Palace
Everton
Hull
Leicester
Middlesbrough
Southampton
Stoke
Sunderland
Swansea
Watford
West Brom
West Ham
​

Unlikely to change for 2-3 matches - 8 pts for us drops Arse & Liverwhinge

I think it is actually only 5 points required for us to drop Arsenal, providing that 3 of those points come against them....

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

Nope, not for me! Granted, my expectations were that we WOULDN'T get top 3, possibly not even top 4 with the likes of Pep, Jose, Conte and the no-Euro factor for Chelsea/Bindippers. But we're not there yet. Not with that run-in. So to say we've surpassed expectations WHATEVER happens is pushing it.

Even before the Semi, i had us down to draw the next 4 league games, blowing top four wide open.
Our run-in is the hardest, made worse by the fact that even our supposed poorer opponents have just hit form at the right time (Palace and Leicester).

Gutted we're playing after Chelsea this week. Would've rather it be the same time. They'll beat Saints, making a 7 point margin again before we kick off a very very tough game away to Palace. Mentally that'll be a massive night.

Normally i would agree but after what happened at the weekend any mental hangover will be erased if Chelsea get anything but 3 pts on tuesday. Full on motivation re-ignited immediately.

It's only their games against Southampton and Everton i hold out any hope for.

 

[SPURSphenomenon]

Normally i would agree but after what happened at the weekend any mental hangover will be erased if Chelsea get anything but 3 pts on tuesday. Full on motivation re-ignited immediately.

It's only their games against Southampton and Everton i hold out any hope for.

West Brom away too is tricky. All is not lost after Southampton.

Everton is the one that will start the topple if its going to happen IMO

 

[Jordinho]

We need to be within 3 points of them after Sunday to stand a chance, giving us the chance to go top against West Ham to put some pressure on.

 

[SPURSphenomenon]

West Ham away to go top of the league, sounds familiar...

 

[StephenH]

Sadly we are not getting any higher that a respectable second.
Our run in is a bitch!
But no complaints from me

 

[alekaras]

The last thing we need to do is fold. A 2nd place finish this season would erase last seasons's failure to do so, but finish 3rd or even 4th this season, and those old thoughts we always be there

It also depends on how we get 2nd. If we barely manage to hold on, it won't be good for morale. However, a second place finish winning at least 15 out of a possible 18 remaining points and pushing Chelski to the end will have a completely different effect on the team.

 

[alekaras]

Oh, believe me, I know that! They'll turn up for the game just because it's us. But I think they'll be just a bit warier than usual. It could still go wrong for us, I never take anything for granted. But it gets very toxic very quickly over there this season and if we can get an early goal then I think the odds will be in our favour.

You do realize it's the players that play the game, not the fans. The players aren't exactly Wet Spam to the bone since birth. If they're safe, which they will be, they might not be up for it at all. Last year they had something to play for. This year not so much. And we're sooo much better than they are.

 

[alekaras]

West Brom away too is tricky. All is not lost after Southampton.

Everton is the one that will start the topple if its going to happen IMO

Every game is tricky. Both for them and for us. It's the PL, after all, where anything can happen. All we can do is focus on winning as many as we can and let the chips fall where they may. It's going to be interesting, for sure!

 

[alekaras]

FWIW...

https://twitter.com/x/status/856200102121177089

flimflam. United stand a better chance. They're 3 points behind with 2 games in hand and have shown better form and consistency.

 

[Glenda's Legs]

You do realize it's the players that play the game, not the fans. The players aren't exactly Wet Spam to the bone since birth. If they're safe, which they will be, they might not be up for it at all. Last year they had something to play for. This year not so much. And we're sooo much better than they are.

Err yes, I do realise that. If fans played then no team would ever lose, obviously. But atmospheres can have an effect.
My point in the earlier post was that this time Spam fans are saying they expect a massacre on the pitch. That is not something they would usually say ahead of playing us (at least not out loud to a Spurs fan).

 

[Bullet]

I'm surprised at all the positivity in here.

Our run-in is absolutely brutal.

I will be amazed if we get second place.

Palace have just beaten all our rivals.

Utd and Arse are very tough.

Leicester and Spam hate us.

Hull are on fire.

 

[Briddo1882]

I would actually love it if some managers / players started saying publicly that they would prefer us to win it because we play more attractive football or some other such slur against Chelsea, in the same way that Pulis and the Chav players openly wanted Leicester to win it last year. Just to put a bit more pressure on them....

 

[Lemonade Money]

I'm surprised at all the positivity in here.

Our run-in is absolutely brutal.

I will be amazed if we get second place.

Palace have just beaten all our rivals.

Utd and Arse are very tough.

Leicester and Spam hate us.

Hull are on fire.

This. We've had our easy run, now it's the other teams' turns. It wouldn't be a collapse, just the order in which the games are played. I still think we'll finish at least third though.

 

[Gilzeantoscore]

I fully expect City to finish second, with us third and Yanited fourth.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I'm surprised at all the positivity in here.

Our run-in is absolutely brutal.

I will be amazed if we get second place.

Palace have just beaten all our rivals.

Utd and Arse are very tough.

Leicester and Spam hate us.

Hull are on fire.

Palace are bang in form I agree but they were outplayed at Chelsea and were better than Chelsea so IMO we should do better

Utd and arse are tough but it's at the Lane and it's the prem. No easy games in this league

Leicester and spam hate us but aren't a patch on us football wise and IMO would need to have their bet games of the season to win.., which again wouldn't surprise me

 

[harr1984]

I'm surprised at all the positivity in here.

Our run-in is absolutely brutal.

I will be amazed if we get second place.

Palace have just beaten all our rivals.

Utd and Arse are very tough.

Leicester and Spam hate us.

Hull are on fire.

Jeez how on earth did you come to this conclusion?!

We are in as good a form as anyone in the league, every team you've mentioned are easily below us in the league,we've lost just THREE league games all season but all of a sudden we are going to shed a load of points to Hull,Palace etc?!

So what if Leicester and West Ham hate us, we hate Chelsea and how often do we beat them?

Do me a favour, yes there are no easy games but the opposition have a lot more to fear about us than we do about them....

 

[StephenH]

The up and coming games are very very important of course. I am looking to see an improvement over last seasons end of season mess. If we finish poorly 'again' it will be speak volumes about the maturity of the squad or lack there of.