Paullow

Looking forward to this Villa vs West Ham match. Hopefully an open, end to end game. One of them will definitely leapfrog us into 5th, regardless of the result. Hoping for a draw, or an away win after that.

Didn't realise that Huddersfield were down to 10 players after only 4 mins, and a second match in a row where Galloway fails to score from the spot. Same incident. Huddersfield beat (currently bottom) Fylde in their opening match, but have lost 6 league games in a row since, including a 0-4, 1-5, 1-4, 0-4 and 0-4, so while, first and foremost, coming away with the 3 points is the main thing, it will be a bit of a missed opportunity in terms of GD if Newcastle don't at least match those aforementioned scores. Second half should be starting soon. 2-0 now.

The lack of jeopardy spoils it for me. While it's obviously great winning a lot of matches, it must be a bit strange knowing you're going to win at least 27 of your 38 matches each year, overmatch the vast majority of your opponents, and some of the very few points you do drop is when the title has already been secured.

Doesn't look like it but NUFC have taken the lead, Potts.

You'd have to go back to 2018/19 when a side with that many points finished bottom pf the group, CSKA Moscow on 7 points, but I guess when teams are more evenly matched in the so called Group of Death, no fodder in the group, and most play in front of big, passionate crowds then more chance teams will be taking points off each other, especially at home. If we did lose the final 3 games, then Dortmund would obviously be on at least 4 points heading into the final match, and it wouldn't be a massive shock, and probably fairly feasible, if they won at home to an already qualified PSG and then, if we lost at home to Milan, it could come down to who won by more in the H2H matches between us and Dortmund.

Even 4 points from them and we're 99.9% likely to still be in Europe, due to the head to head record, unless Milan also end up on exactly 8 points with us and Dortmund, and then the calculators will have to come out. I'd take 4 points from the 2 games. I agree that they are the weakest of the 4, but the crowd in Germany will make that match a lot tougher.

Surprised we've only played 2 German sides at home considering we've played around 150 matches in Europe. We've played Frankfurt as well, but that was when the Europa League group stage was just single ties, and we played them away. Really should be looking to win this one. The next 2 matches (BVB and PSG both away) are clearly much tougher than this one, and if we do win, and Milan don't, then we will be in a pretty strong position to qualify.

Another loss for Ajax today, this time 4-3 to then bottom of the table Utrecht (who now push Ajax to 2nd bottom), including conceding an injury time winner. Crazy how bad they are doing. They do have a couple of games in hand, but they're already EIGHTEEN points behind 4th place Feyenoord. 4 teams are averaging at least 2.5 points per game in that league, which is absolutely insane.

Absolutely incredible that in the past 12 months, we have scored 4+ 12 times. Just steamrolling teams at times 8-0 Sheff U 6-1 Spurs 5-1 West Ham, Villa, Brentford 4-0 Palace, Villa 4-1 PSG, Everton, Brighton, Fulham, Southampton https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/premier-league/jahrestabelle/wettbewerb/GB1/saison_id/2022 https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/premier-league/jahrestabelle/wettbewerb/GB1/saison_id/2023 36 21 9 6 57 31 +26 72 30 15 8 7 60 31 +29 53 So since the start of 22, spanning 3 different seasons, we have P66 W36 D17 L13 F117 A62 GD+55 PTS 125, plus a cup final, and started well in the CL. Incredible.

Not really. I would usually watch Rangers vs Celtic, but very little outside of that. I guess if there was another match I would tune in to, then Hearts at home to either of the Old Firm would be towards the top of the list, so I probably will have it on in the background later, at least until Celtic go a goal or two ahead..

The bottom 3 are looking like they are starting to get cut away, the 3 worst goal differences by far, and the only sides currently averaging less than a point per game, and interestingly, they are 3 of Sunderland's 6 wins this season. Obviously you still have to turn up, compete, and get the job done, but as most teams are beating Rotherham, Sheff Wed, and QPR, their start to the season probably isn't as good as it first appeared, especially with back to back defeats. That Southampton match, while impressive, is now looking more of an exception.

Shame there's just the one televised PL game today. Obviously an extra match yesterday, so the same amount on Sky / BT, but 3 on one day is a bit overkill, especially on a Saturday when there's also the 3pms, and Sunday is usually my favourite day for just binge watching matches. Milan vs Juventus could be OK on TNT Sports at 7.45pm, 2nd vs 3rd and obviously a little bit more interest with it involving the former, and ITV4 have Barcelona vs Bilbao at 8pm, but not quite the same as a PL match. Bilbao are doing reasonably well in the league, but was quite surprised to see that they were only 4/1 to win (away), and slightly shorter at some places, thought they would have been nearer 8s or 9s.

Felt like that was coming. Would have been more annoying it it was 86 mins not 76. I guess Sheff U have more time to try and get back on terms again, but doubtful.

I've got the rugby on record, and will probably start watching that if / when Man Utd go a goal up. Both matches are reasonably likely to be over as a contest by the hour mark, but hopefully Sheff U can spring a surprise.

Howay the draw!

I reckon our points tally will be far nearer Chelsea's than Arsenal's at the end of the season, so I'm not taking much pleasure from this score line. A draw would be decent, but can't see Arsenal pulling it back.

https://streamin.me/v/0911bbac "HANDBALL!!!"

I'd prefer Arsenal to win than Chelsea personally. Hopefully it at least ends in a draw. Could have been 2-0 there, just wide.

At home? They are almost 4/1 to win, and it's by far the easiest game on paper of the six. I'd take a draw in Germany, just mainly due to the crowd factor, but I'd be pretty disappointed if we didn't get the 3 points on Wednesday. It would definitely be an opportunity missed. https://www.oddschecker.com/football/champions-league/newcastle-v-borussia-dortmund/winner

I've no idea, but would probably make sense. I guess 'BVB' is a somewhat similar idea, but just more known because of Dortmund's bigger reputation.

I doubt anyone in the UK would see 'SVW' and automatically think of Werder Bremen. Should have been 'WB', 'Wer' or 'Bre'.

Rotherham vs Ipswich postponed due to the weather, so probably just watch the rugby instead. There are a few foreign matches on, like Dortmund on Sky at 7.30pm.

The worst part about international breaks is the modest football league match on the initial Monday, then no matches on the Tuesday, Wednesday, and also the following Wednesday and Thursday. I definitely miss having a match on, even if it's just on in the background.

Yeah, I'd say there was a clear top 9 in terms of club size, the obvious 6, then Newcastle, Villa, and Everton in whatever order. These are the top 9 in terms of trophies, all time points, all time Premier League points, years in the PL etc. All 9 clubs are from 'core' UK cities as well. West Ham have entered the conversation more in recent years with their league finishes, only missing about 4 of the PL seasons (unlike the Mackems 16), I guess that trophy last year, but also mainly their recent impressive attendances, so they'd be clear 10th IMO. They are also 10th in the all time PL table. I'd personally put Leeds next mainly due to them doing well when i was growing up in the 90s, regular top 6 finishes, CL semi final, big media presence, from a huge city, and their must successful period was at least in living memory to some, but their 16, or now 17, years outside of the top flight definitely lowers their stock somewhat, especially with those years in the 3rd tier. As others say, after that there's not too much to separate the next batch of clubs. Sunderland are 10th in the all time top flight points league, obviously massively assisted by what they did 100 years ago, but no top 6 finishes since the early 1950s, only 3 top 12 finishes in those 70 years, and only 4 matches in Europe in their entire history absolutely lowers their stock. They are 18th in the all time PL table, so they could be anywhere from 12th to 18th really. I'd probably put Leicester ahead of them due to their recent title, other cups, European adventures etc. and probably Forest as well due to the Clough years and also being from a major UK city to add a bit more profile and stature to them, and I'd probably have Sunderland just after that around 14th or 15th. It obviously means very little in reality, and others will have their own variables to boost their sides stock, but that's how I see it FWIW.