Top six - current status & final placings

[Dimples]

My initial take on our rivals for PL 2018/2019:

Placings initial prediction before CL kicks in: 1. Us 2. Chelsea 3. Rags 4. Dippers 5. Arsenal 6. Spuds

Spurs: Looks bad for Spurs
How long will their best players remain motivated and stay at the club?
Unless brain dead they know they will win nothing and get paid half the going rate.
They must resent Levy, he will demand top $ for any sales yet does not pay top $. Also no new signings.

Arsenal: WIP

Chelsea: Dangerous
Class players, no distractions like CL and Hazard given a free role - a real talent when motivated, can win matches on his own

Liverpool: Undecided (next few game will tell us a lot about them)
They do not look sharp to me. Salah could have 2nd season syndrome. Injuries and schedule will be an issue i.e. not enough squad depth
They look more resilient and steady, have the authorities on their side but I am still not convinced.

Rags: cure for insomnia
Like a vampire - really difficult to kill off. They never really go away and they keep coming back - grinding out wins boring everybody to death
If Mo steadies the ship they will be difficult to beat.

Us: A joy to watch
We look good. The squad depth is a huge plus. Exception is Fern. An injury to him and I fear we would struggle.

What do you think?

[nottsblue]

Dippers will be there or thereabouts and are the biggest threat for my money. Salah won’t get 32 PL goals again but between him, Mane and Firmino they will still get a good number and with a decent goalie now in place won’t be as flighty away from home.

Chelsea have the Europa League do they not? Thursday/Sunday football will take its toll. And everything is pinned on Hazard. If he doesn’t perform they aren’t as good.

Rags are like an old turd that just won’t flush, stinking the place out. The odd good game, mostly turgid shite and a few hilarious beatings. But not a contender

Arsenal and Spuds haven’t a prayer of winning the thing. They are fighting with the rags for 4th

[City64]

Everything will start to take shape in the next 3 - 4 weeks .
Dippers have no squad strength and rely heavily on Salah and Mane .
Chelsea have serious striker problems just Giroud and Morata both of whom have serious out of form issues . Also huge question marks over their new young keeper . Again rely heavily on one player ....... Hazard .He only turns it on when he wants to though !
Spurs are a fucking disgrace , not a fucking prayer , no home stadium , ridiculous transfer policy .......... a club treading water !
Arsenal a rebuilding programme , need time and new manager developing to the PL . Cant see them being a threat but capable of beating our nearest challengers .
Rags a powder keg ready to explode at the next bad result . CL will be season defining for them they simply have to qualify from a tough group , again another team who can beat our nearest challengers . If screw ball Mourinho can hold it all together the better for us , miles away from a title challenge at the moment but and it is a massive but they could gain momentum from a successful CL campaign .

[South Stand Balti]

I think the dippers will win it. Spurs should have had a penalty late on yesterday and the dippers got a very soft one at Palace recently. They have also spent quarter of a billion on their squad in 2018. I can see Wolves creeping in to the top 6 too.

[Wonderwall]

Dippers strength in depth will be a big issue if the qualify for the knockout stages of the champions League.

The also have no player like the Silva's and KDB who can unlock a defence. They sold their only player of that quality in coutinho.

They have a very good 1st 11 but suspensions and injuries will take their toll and they will have to be lucky to get away with coping.

Also, their blood and thunder approach will be worked out by teams, then they are in deep shit and will drop points.

[zuricity]

Let's see how they do against PSG this week , this could be the game that puts a serious dent in their confidence.

[nottsblue]

Let's see how they do against PSG this week , this could be the game that puts a serious dent in their confidence.

Or boosts it. It is at their place and PSG aren't brilliant away from home in the CL.

Hoping Mbappe will destroy them

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Dippers strength in depth will be a big issue if the qualify for the knockout stages of the champions League.

The also have no player like the Silva's and KDB who can unlock a defence. They sold their only player of that quality in coutinho.

They have a very good 1st 11 but suspensions and injuries will take their toll and they will have to be lucky to get away with coping.

Also, their blood and thunder approach will be worked out by teams, then they are in deep shit and will drop points.

They are good and strengthened well over the summer plus of course Milner is now the best midfielder in England. Yes it will be interesting how they cope the all the ganes coming up thick and fast and also if they get a key injury ( Salad out for 2 months would be fun) but equally it would be wrong to write them or Chelsea out of the title

[Woodyblue]

I have been a City fan for 50yrs and even now after watching some of the absolute breathtaking football we play there’s still this fucking little devil sat on my shoulder that says “don’t you dare think we will win anything cause you know this is City”
I think Chelsea are our main competition this season and as much as they bore the tits off me I think the Rags will grind out enough to finish third. Now I have to take a deep breath because with every fibre of my mind and body I hope to god that I am wrong here and the dirty fucking workshy thieving. Murderous filthy Scouse bindipping arrogant knobheads finish fourth. It would make my whole year for them to crash and burn and finish seventh or eighth.

[carolina-blue]

because with every fibre of my mind and body I hope to god that I am wrong here and the dirty fucking workshy thieving. Murderous filthy Scouse bindipping arrogant knobheads finish fourth. It would make my whole year for them to crash and burn and finish seventh or eighth

Love it .
But can’t see it , the rest of the league is too crap , and the media whores want them up there ,
On a level playing field we should finish way ahead of them again but as we know the league don’t want that .

[Beefymcfc]

Fucking hate the Rags and Dippers and hope both of them implode.

Cunts!

[Pretty Boy Lee]

I think we’re severely underestimating Scouse cunts here. Toe to toe they were our bogey team but over the course of the year they couldn’t stay consistent in large part to some squad issues.

Since then they’ve done imo the leagues best transfer business and look good so far. I’m not sure they’ve done enough to win it all, but let’s face it those expecting the cl to de rail them are forgetting they did very very well in it last year. I honestly think welll drop off a little, they’ll gain a lot and it will be a much closer race.

[sheblue]

I do not think the dippers will win it, no matter how much the media want them to.
When the pressure comes on they will drop more points than us.
But they will do a lot better than last season and I expect them to finish second.

[Beefymcfc]

The Dippers will get enough decisions to keep them in the running right to the end, the media have ensured it.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

Liverpool look a lot stronger and not because of a more solid defence/keeper, but because they have a player in Keita who can actually pass a ball to help them control and see out games. At this stage they look our biggest challenger.

Chelsea are one to keep an eye on too, they've been very clinical so far, interesting to see can they keep that level up, I have my doubts that they can.

U****d will be there or thereabouts with their grind, insipid but effective.

Spurs haven't reinvigorated their squad so I'll be surprised if Poch can get the same levels out of them again, settled side with very few of the fringe players actually capable of pushing theur way into starting XI.

Arsenal at this stage are a work in progress, I expect them to get a lot better but don't see them in the mix come the final push.

[FA cup winners 2006]

For Liverpool, United and Chelsea not to win the league, it should go down as a failure. If klopp doesn't won a trophy this year, he will surely be under pressure.

At this early stage, it looks like spurs years of over achieving are done. Don't think they will finish top 4. could be even pushed out to 7th.

Arsenal and Emery will take time to gel but i think he will be good for them. If they are in the mix for the top 4 at xmas, then they might just push on but europa league involvement could hamper them.

Liverpool have not impressed me yet, not really got going. For some reason, they don't seem to have the team unity they had last year. They seemed to thrive on being the underdog. This season they are favourites and it looks like they are more out for themselves. Salah and Mane bring prime examples against spurs. Hope their season implodes fairly soon.

United will go through periods of grinding out results and then dropping points and infighting all over the place. Only a matter of time before Jose causes chaos again and they will drop points. There are more teams that can play now in the PL and it will be interesting to see how they get on against the likes of Wolves and Fulham. If they beat them, they will get top 4 but Fulham or wolves could really embarrass united and play them of the park.

Chelsea will be our closest challenger, Jorginho and Hazard to be their stars.

We need to go on another strong run before Xmas and we should push on from last year. Would think that the CL will be the priority

[Hutch's Shoulder]

In the good old days, six games was the first time the papers published a league table, everyone had played three homes and three always, and most likely a cross section of weak, average and strong sides, so a pattern started to emerge, although there was often a surprise package who stayed up near the top until the serious business started. Therefore, today seems a reasonable time to take that first cut view (PL only).

1. City and Liverpool will fight it out for first/second place. I really despise what they have become and the media hype they get, but saying they won't be our main rivals is wishful thinking. We should still be better than them, but 'champion's complacency', injuries, refereeing decisions, progress in cup competitions and runs of results will make it too close to call at this stage. If we are still neck and neck in February then I would back us.

2. Chelsea are much improved and look certs for third right now. Considerably ahead of the rest, but probably need another season to be real challengers. A good bet for one of the cups.

3. Rags will probably scrape fourth.

4. Spurs and Arsenal battling it for fifth I think. Arsenal on the up and Spurs haven't strengthened, stadium issues etc, so I wouldn't be surprised if Arsenal sneak it at the end, especially if they strengthen in January (for a change). My heart says one of these pips the rags to fourth, but my head doubts it.

5. Watford are the 'surprise package' mentioned above, but I suspect they lack the strength in depth to make top 6. Europa an outside chance.

6. Everton - Europa Cup if they're lucky.

[Dubciteh]

The dippers are the problem. They are looking strong without really getting going. I am worried tbh.

[bigblue]

1. City
2. Liverpool
3. Chelsea
4. Arsenal
5. Spurs
...

Spurs look the worst I've seen them for a few years. No real depth either, but they have a bunch of players who can win a game.

Arsenal will finish above spurs. Their fans will proclaim that they're back and celebrate the season as a success.

Chelsea are playing well but I'll be surprised if they get above 3rd. They lack a good striker and their midfield can be inconsistent (bar Kante).

candlepool are playing great. I hate to say it, but they will most likely push us all the way this year. However, I don't trust Klopp teams to hold on for the whole season. At least the competition between us and them will be exciting to watch.

If we can be in 1st place by the time Kevin comes back, I'll feel a lot better about winning the league. Our start has been a mixed bag, hopefully the bad has been worked out and we can push on. The next 4 games for both us and Liverpool will be very telling for how the season will go. We play Oxford, Brighten, Hoffenheim, and then the dippers. They play Chelsea twice, Napoli, then the Centurions. We'll see if we can get a string of convincing wins together in 3 different competitions, and if the perpetual victims can do the business against a run of good teams.

[Kippax Sean]

We'll win the league by at least 9 points, win the champions league and maybe another cup.