Paullow

Good for us (City score, not Conte). Keeps more European options open if we do tail off a bit in the league.

City ahead! Haaland. Just switched over at half time of the Chelsea match.

They're not bombarding, but it does feel like a case of when Chelsea will score, not if, and when they do, the match will pretty much be over as a contest. As soon as they score, I'll be switching over to the FA Cup match.

It's a bit shit hoping a top side win all the cups, but clearly, if we were to finish 6th or 7th this season then it is in our best interest for a top team to win. It wouldn't be great if we finished 6th (where I'm personally thinking) and just ended up in the Europa Conference. I'd take it, but the Europa League would be so much better, so I'm hoping Man City win the FA Cup because I wouldn't really want Man Utd adding to their trophy tally this season, and they will likely be big faves for the Europa.

Just to go over the FA Cup permutations in case it changes anyone's mindset with the upcoming Man City vs Burnley match. If we finish 4th or 5th then the FA Cup is pretty irrelevant I believe. 4th would be Champions League, 5th would be Europa League. If we finish 6th, then we would get Europa League football if a team in the top 5 won the FA Cup (most likely Man City or Man Utd). If a side below us (Brighton, Fulham, Burnley, Sheff U etc.) won then it would be Europa Conference League. If we finish 7th, then we would get Europa Conference League if a top 6 side won the FA Cup (Man City, Man Utd, possibly Brighton in this scenario), but no Europe at all if a side below us won the FA Cup.

Spurs (40) have now conceded more than double the amount of league goals that we have (19).

Still a tiny bit wary of Chelsea, especially with us having to go there on the last day of the season, so an unlikely away point for Everton, and Man City to progress in the cup, and that will round off a very good Saturday.

Welcome set of results. Would have taken that 3 hours ago.

Get in!

SSN had Soton vs Spurs on 77 mins a few seconds ago, but now it's 89

Been a very good start to the second halves generally

They definitely deserve respect and are hard to beat, and do of course play us at their place, but I'm not as fussed about Brentford as the likes of Spurs, Liverpool, and Brighton. Brentford still have to play Man Utd, Brighton, Newcastle, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham, and Man City in their final 12 games, so they would do very well to be up there at the end of the season, but yeah, while they are within touching distance, it would be preferable for them to drop points, and then we can actually hope they take points off some of those teams mentioned later in the season. I think it's probably in our better interests to hope that Man City to come through today (and Man Utd tomorrow).

Definitely. Even a top end Championship match would have been OK. Man City vs Burnley and Chelsea vs Everton clash though at 5.45 and 5.30.

Crazy what a goal can do. Had no interest in the post match stuff a few mins ago, but now, I'm checking to see how long the programme runs for MASSIVE WIN lads!

Obviously, West Ham and Leicester have massively failed (domestically) this season, and are nailed on to both finish in the bottom half, if not relegated, and our odds would have been exaggerated due to bookies fear, and also expected money to be placed due to the sheer magnitude of the takeover, but while we obviously can't influence how well other teams do, I agree with those who say it would be a bit disappointing if we were to finish below Brighton (or Brentford) given the position they were in, and those teams now being within 2 or 3 points, and significantly closing the gap in recent weeks, isn't ideal. Brighton are strange. They have finished bottom 6 every season since they came up with us in 2017, bar last season when they finished 9th, just a couple of points above us in 11th, but despite this, they do seem to have been geared up to do well, and it feels like they have been doing well for a while, despite their general low league finishes (as low as 16th in 2021). They also lost two of their supposed better players in the summer, and brought in lesser known players (as usual), but as others say they are very well run behind the scenes, and always seem to have a contingency plan in place for whenever it's needed, and in most cases, that plan often works out an upgrade. I'd have been very happy with 7th to 9th 'and a cup run' at the start of the season, and I'd still be OK with 7th now (as long the FA Cup was won by a side in the top 6, so we still got some sort of European football), but given we were like 8 or 9 points clear of Brighton and Brentford not too long ago, it would be a bit disappointing if we were to finish below another 'non top 6 team', even if we were to finish above the likes of Chelsea. Finishing 7th behind the 'big 6' and being the obvious 'best of the rest' at this stage of our journey, and getting the plaudits for that, would have been more satisfying to me than finishing 7th behind a supposed lesser side, who would have had an even better season than us, if that makes sense.

Odds-wise, it was more competing with West Ham and Leicester for 7th to 9th. https://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/premier-league-odds-2223-outright-winner-top-4-and-relegation/200983 Premier League Top Half finish 22/23 (via Sky Bet) 1/5 - Newcastle 4/6 - West Ham 4/5 - Leicester 7/4 - Aston Villa, Brighton 5/2 - Everton, Wolves 11/4 - Crystal Palace, Leeds 3/1 - Southampton 9/2 - Brentford Premier League Top 4 finish 22/23 (via Sky Bet) 1/50 - Manchester City 1/10 - Liverpool 4/5 - Chelsea 11/10 - Manchester United, Tottenham 7/4 - Arsenal 6/1 - Newcastle 12/1 - Leicester, West Ham Premier League winner 22/23 (via Sky Bet) 4/7 - Manchester City 2/1 - Liverpool 16/1 - Chelsea 25/1 - Manchester United 28/1 - Tottenham 40/1 - Arsenal 50/1 - Newcastle https://talksport.com/sport/betting-tips/1081782/premier-league-odds-man-city-title-top-four-relegation/ Winner Man City 4/7 Liverpool 2/1 Tottenham 14/1 Chelsea 16/1 Man United 28/1 Arsenal 66/1 Newcastle 80/1 West Ham 150/1 Leicester 200/1 Aston Villa 200/1 Brighton 250/1 Everton, Wolverhampton, Crystal Palace 500/1 Southampton, Leeds United, Brentford 750/1 Fulham, Nottingham Forest 1000/1 Bournemouth 2000/1 Top 4 Man City 1/33 Liverpool 1/10 Chelsea, Tottenham 8/11 Man United 11/8 Arsenal 7/4 Newcastle 8/1 West Ham 12/1 Leicester City, Aston Villa, Brighton 16/1 Everton, Wolves, Crystal Palace 33/1 Brentford, Southampton, Leeds 50/1 Fulham 66/1 Nottm Forest 100/1 Bournemouth 150/1

Was just having a look to see what the Boro fans were saying about this match because it's a big one, and laughing at a couple of the early replies. 'I'm Sunderland til half 9' Get tha blue drinks in lads!

Sheff U!!! 2-1

Cardiff, Reading and Huddersfield equalise in quick succession against WBA, Blackburn, and Norwich respectively. All now 1-1. All good news for Sunderland, especially if they can find a winner in the second half.

Cracking equaliser for Sheff U right on half time. 1-1.

You can tell it's nearly wedding season in Sunderland... Strong start by Sheff U, but it's still 0-0. Norwich, WBA, Blackburn and Luton all currently 1-0 up in the race for the playoffs.

Big match between Sunderland and Sheff Utd at 8pm. If Sunderland win then they are kind of back in playoff contention (especially if Blackburn fail to win tonight), but it would also put Middlesbrough within a win of going second (same amount of games played), presumably for the first time this season, but a Sheff U win would put them massively back in the automatic promotion driving seat, and make it really hard for Sunderland to make the playoffs. Sheff Utd would possibly be the happier of the two if it ended up a draw, despite being narrow favourites.

He was playing centre half tonight according to the BBC. Haven't heard much of his strike partner recently who was also at Gateshead last season, Cedwyn Scott, who is a Tynedale lad.

Stoke definitely on top now. He wasn't great for the equaliser, but Boro's keeper has made a couple of decent saves. Probably end up costing them (Stoke). Really good match though.

I don't particularly like watching City, but unless I was actively wanting a team to win, I'd rarely watch a match past 3-0, or probably 2-0 in Man City's case as it's all pretty academic, with minimal jeopardy, especially if there are a number of other alternatives on the box. Boro vs Stoke is a decent watch. Still 1-1, Boro just about on top, but Stoke are having their moments.