Paullow

I reckon the approach will be fairly dictated by how Man Utd get on tonight. If they win then there will probably be an acceptance of 4th, but if they drop points then will be seen as a more important match. I'm not too fussed, after fearing we'd lose 4th for a while, I'm just so pleased we are over the line and like the idea of giving others minutes, especially the likes of Miley, but I guess if 3rd is in our hands then more incentive to end on a high.

I forgot Brighton actually needed one point to mathematically confirm 6th place, even though it's 99.9999% likely. I wonder if there's the odd Brighton fan bricking it in case they lose 5-0 here and 6-0 on Sunday or placing hedge bets just in case.

Is that somewhere in Jesmond? Botman and Longstaff do seem to get on very well.

Currently just gone past 1,668,000, an increase in 27,000 since CL was confirmed, and over 100,000 additional followers since that Spurs win pretty much exactly a month ago.

I love the fact we're in pot 4 (at this stage of where we are at, it would be annoying in future years) and searching Newcastle pot 4 on Twitter and seeing a lot of references, plus possible groups like PSG/Barca Real/Bayern Milan Newcastle etc. https://twitter.com/search?q=Newcastle pot 4&src=typed_query&f=live We can kind of just enjoy who we get and how it goes, but for pot 2 teams who would fully expect to get out of the group, there would be a huge contrast in some of those teams getting like a Danish / Swiss team in the lowest ranked group instead of a team that's finished at worst 4th in the supposed best league in the world, who will almost certainly strengthen significantly in the summer.

Can't remember a PL match with so little jeopardy on it than tonight's match between Brighton and Man City. Brighton are 99% going to finish 6th and Man City have obviously won the league, minds probably elsewhere, and no points records to chase down. That said, it's two very good sides who have had great seasons, so could be a good spectacle, and live TV matches will start to become few and far between very soon.

PSG, Real Madrid, and then a Red Star/Zagreb/Salzburg from pot 3 would be the dream draw for me. Be expected to get 4-6 points from the lesser side, and test yourself against the very best, teams that we have never faced before, a chance to make some real memories and highlights (like Tino) and if we do fall short, then, instead of likely falling in the L16 should we get through an 'easier' group, have a real crack at the Europa - a chance for more European matches, a more realistic chance of a trophy, a potential final in Dublin, and a potential alternative route back into the CL the following season should we drop to like 6th or 7th in the league. I'd much rather have that group than say Feyenoord, Leipzig, Zagreb, us and possibly be favourites to get out of it, but all a little bit meh in our first season back in Europe for ages, never mind the the CL. We've also played Barca 4 times out of our 18 CL group matches (and D Kyiv 4 times as well), so I'd prefer to avoid those if we can.

Botman, Bruno, and Isak should be the blueprint. Those around 21-23 who are among the best players at their club but would see Newcastle, or the Premier League, as a big step up, and can grow and develop with the club, fit in with the wage structure, and be here for years. That Szoboszlai at Leipzig would fit the bill - 22 years old and Hungarian captain.

Incredible. Can't believe we've got there so soon. Fairly pointless star, but we have finished 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 5th in the Premier League era, so if we do end up 4th this season, and is looking at this stage, then we will have finished in every position from 2nd to 5th twice.

Absolutely shat myself there

If Leicester win both games they are effectively safe given their superior goal difference. They are out of the relegation zone if they win tonight.

Solano currently on TalkSport video outside SJP.

Na, a point tonight would take Leeds out of the equation from Leicester's perspective, as any win for Leicester on the final day would mean that Leeds would need to better it by 10, so that's one advantage of the draw - I've literally just asked a Leicester fan on a boxing forum if he would take a point . So basically if they draw tonight as a 7/1 shot, it wouldn't be in their hands, but a win over West Ham would mean that Everton would have to do the same. Looking on GOT, Everton fans are desperate for us to win, so that they have the fall back of the draw on the final day (assuming Leeds don't win 3-0).

Na, I was always a League Cup over CL man at the time, but now the LC has gone and CL is so close, and generally better for the club going forward, I'm happy with how it's gone. We'd already drawn 3 of 4 matches prior to that second leg (even if one was an excellent point) and there's no guarantee we'd have won it with a match fit Bruno and Pope, so hopefully secure CL tomorrow, invest wisely, and keep pushing on, and there could be bigger nights than a League Cup final ahead of us. If we mess this season end up, then aye

Yeah, I would too. It would mean that we would very likely finish 4th (although not set in stone), but the difference between 3rd and 4th is tiny compared to the difference between 4th and 5th. I would go out with the intention to win, and go out for the win, but if it's 1-1 after like 89 minutes, I certainly wouldn't be doing anything stupid to try and force the winner.

Who would 'take a point' tomorrow then? It's obviously a very winnable fixture, one we should really win, and would strengthen our grip on 3rd if we won, but a point would finally get us over the line, and we could just enjoy Chelsea away with minimal jeopardy and blood a few youngsters and try different things.

Dortmund have 40 mins against 10 men to try and keep the title in their hands ahead of the final days fixtures. Sky Sports Football

I guess it's another 'podium' finish as well, and, especially if we don't push on quite as much as expected, it will look nice looking back on things like Football Manager and viewing the past winners and seeing our name (at least in the mix) again after 20 years, because it doesn't happen often outside of the obvious 6, but these of course are all minuscule things, in reality there's not much difference between finishing 3rd to 4th, but 4th to 5th is absolutely huge. I'd probably even take a point tomorrow night if offered just to get it over the line, and then we could do want we want against Chelsea, even if that did sacrifice a 3rd place finish.

Defenders fault there IMO, rather than the Gateshead keeper.

I guess Southampton seemingly doing OK away to a fresh side with something concrete to play for is a little reassuring ahead of next week should we not manage to do the job ourselves. You certainly wouldn't confidently bet against Liverpool hitting 4 or 5, but I think many just expect that to happen with Southampton having nothing to play for, but if Liverpool were to win, the more likely score would be like 2-0, or possibly 3. Just wish some of those recent disallowed goals stood like Schar vs Everton, Wilson vs Saints, or maybe Wilson scoring at 4-1 against Brighton the other night, just for that additional buffer, but confident we'll do our modest job anyway. Edit - Brighton have just taken the lead while I was typing

Any particular reason why Sky have gone back to their 1.30 and 4pm slots for Super Sunday today, rather than the now usual 2pm and 4.30pm?

I love the city of Leeds, it's one of my favourites in the UK, so that kind of does have a bit of an impact on my view of the club, but aye, them appointing Allardyce did kind of change my view. That said, Leicester realistically won't survive unless they beat us, and I obviously don't want them to do that (they can still stay up if they lost to us, but it's very unlikely), so from that perspective, in terms of my preference it's between Everton and Leeds, and I'd defo want the latter to stay up in that situation, even if if means more Big Sam Hulk Hogan style celebrations

True, but looking at the remaining fixtures, I don't think anyone would give them a chance of that anyway. 10 Bet and others are literally quoting them at 500/1 to get there. It would obviously come in a bit if they won today, but doubt it's on their radar at this stage, especially as they would still need a 9 goal swing with Fulham if all 4 results went their way. Quite a significant story though because I can't remember the last time any of 'the 6' finished in the bottom half, but the improbability of it does remove any realistic jeopardy to make neutrals want to tune in for that reason. I do recall Chelsea finishing exactly 10th in their awful season a few years ago.

It'll be interesting to see what Villa fans think of the Brighton vs Southampton match today - do they hope they surprisingly drop points, and then if they did drop more points in midweek at home to Man City (although not as tough now as if usually would be), 6th place and Europa League would be in Villa's hands with them at home to Brighton on the final day, win that and they would be there, but a loss or draw against a motivated side could see them slip to either 8th or even 9th at the end of the season, and no Europe at all. Or would they rather Brighton won today, sew up 6th and the Europa spot, and probably be less motivated for the final day match giving Villa a better chance to secure a long awaited return to Europe, even if it was Europa Conference and not Europa. Interesting situation, although Brighton couldn't really ask for a better fixture today, especially after resting a few the other day. I think if I was a Villa fan I'd probably want Brighton to win today and put all My eggs in the 7th basket.

Really looking forward to the Leeds match, it really is massive. If they win it's in their hands on the final day, but you have to fear for them if they don't. Man City vs Chelsea would often be a glamour PL fixture, but unless you're an MC fan, or somewhat admire them, then it's basically a pointless fixture. Fortunately there are a couple of other significant matches on mainstream channels at the same time - Augsburg vs Dortmund, which is huge after the Bayern result yesterday, and Gateshead's FA Trophy final.