Paullow

https://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/premier-league/chelsea-v-newcastle/winner Our odds are coming in a fair bit now, so presumably a fair few with the same mindset and additional money going on the away win. The markets opened nearer 10/1 and 19/2 (9.5/1), but as short as 13/2 at some places at the moment (blue means shortening, pink means drifting).

Strange feeling. For the first time in absolutely ages, well since the takeover anyway (due to the apathy preceding that), this doesn't really feel like a big match, and more of a free hit. I obviously hope we win, or at least extend the run to 10 matches (and end the season strongly), but there's definitely much less pressure than in previous matches.

Decent cup match on BBC Scotland or the iPlayer. Hearts have just gone 3-2 up on St Mirren (67 mins). Jak Alnwick in goal for the latter.

Yeah, I guess the theory of hoping Burnley stay up as they are very likely to struggle the following season doesn't, or shouldn't, apply to us anymore, and after that, they don't bring much to the table and have probably been there long enough now, plus if you were wanting more northern teams in the league then if they do stay up, it will almost certainly be at the expense of another northern club, albeit one who pretty much everyone on here would like to see drop . I'd also like to see Leeds stay up. I really like the city, and they definitely do add more to the league than many others. Leeds vs Man Utd feels like a big match, and to a lesser extent Liverpool, especially when you consider the classics they have had over the years in the PL, the Viduka match particularly springs to mind. Maybe the best chance for a team to shake things up would be Watford - they do still have to play Leeds, Everton, Brentford, and Burnley all at home, so they have the fixtures to do so, but they obviously need to start winning, and soon.

Poor couple of minutes. You watch Soccer Saturday for 85 minutes, and then the two things you don't want happen in a matter of no time . I guess you can obviously take positives from Brentford's goal, but I was disappointed when I saw it. Sunderland were always likely to beat bottom on the table Crewe, but the longer it went, the more hope was there.

Sheff Wed 4-0 up already against our friends at Cambridge. Can't believe Saido Berahino is only 28. Elliot Anderson scores for Bristol R, 2-0.

With only one Premier League match in the 3pm's, my attention is also on #BrucieWatch, just in case he somehow manages to bundle his way into the playoff picture. Blackburn (4th) vs Bristol C 0-0 Coventry (11th) vs Sheff U (5th) 1-1 Millwall (9th) vs Middlesbrough (8th) 0-0 Nott'm Forest (10th) vs Reading 1-0 6th place Luton are at home to 7th placed QPR live on Sky tomorrow at 12pm.

I know odds are just a number (and we beat Southampton as a 3/1 underdog) but Everton are 5/4 to win, so it's still the most likely from a neutral perspective. Leeds will certainly be firm faves to beat Norwich, and we're like 10/1 to beat Chelsea, so individually, they are the most likely scenario, although all 3 results going the absolute wrong way collectively is probably unlikely.

But yeah, especially after a being on such a run and a lot of momentum, it is quite nice watching other results with no real pressure and picking positives out of any scenario. Brentford win - clearly the best result from a pure Newcastle survival perspective and those not too bothered whether we finish 13th-17th Draw - Everton slip into the relegation zone, and 2 points dropped for both sides in a what would be considered a winnable game, and neither gain any real notable ground on us Burnley win - worst result for Everton, the gap to 18th does decrease, but then again, Brentford will be 4 points behind us, played 2 games more, only 9 games remaining and will have passed up probably their most winnable match of the season at home to a team in the relegation zone. I'm just going to sit back, relax, and see what unfolds.

The only thing with a Burnley win is that if Leeds beat Norwich at home tomorrow, which is probably likely, and Everton beat Wolves, and we get a routine 2-0 defeat, obviously a lot of ifs there, but not too far fetched, things could get a little bit more twitchier ahead of our trip to Goodison on Thursday, so while I don't think we're in any real danger, and you can get 90/1 at some places for us to drop, I am still hoping for a draw here. That's the ideal result for me.

They'd still be a point behind with a win, having played two games more

Page 41 onwards certainly is an enjoyable interesting read in retrospect

Harry Wilson has just scored an amazing goal for Fulham, but then missed an absolute sitter in the space of 5 minutes. 1-1 vs Barnsley.

I didn't realise / forgot that Brighton won 4 of their first 5 PL matches, so their last 22 games are 3W D12 L7. I guess it's still roughly a point per game which isn't a disaster, and 36.3 points would probably keep you up most seasons, but 3 wins in 22 is pretty poor.

It's an interesting one. I've been in the '17th is fine' camp for so long, so from that perspective, 18th placed Burnley losing is an absolute no brainer, especially when it's a relatively very winnable game, but at the same time, we maybe are in more of a position now to pick and choose how we would like to see certain results go, and it would be pretty funny to see Everton drop in to the bottom 3 - I must emphasise I've been against that mindset for so long, but now we are on 31 points it maybe is changing a bit. Assuming the bottom 2 are down, in terms of who I would like to see drop after that, the order for me would be Everton, Brentford, Burnley, Leeds, so a Burnley win would be the best from that POV, however, there's still a teeny bit of (natural) pessimism in me, so I'm probably hoping for a draw. A quick 'Brentford Burnley nufc' Twitter search brings up the following, so seems there are a few hoping for Burnley to win:

"That'll shut a few folk up".

A disappointing ending, but still not the best result for them, although it probably will feel better than if it was just a standard 0-0. Another match without a win for him, he failed to win any of his 9 games here, and just 1 in 7 for WBA, so 1 in 16 overall this season. Bournemouth the real winners there.

Hudds have gone to pieces here.

FFS

Get in! 0-2

I'm genuinely finding myself wanting WBA to lose more than Sunderland these days.

I didn't realise the drink driving part to be fair, and I said pundit not commentator.

Agree with Peter Reid. I quite liked Niall Quinn too. I thought he always came across well, especially as a pundit.

I'm just watching the Leeds match and following the updates on here, but Villa are ahead - Coutinho.