Top 6 mini league 17/18

Chris in London

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Joined
21 Sep 2009
Messages
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A few years ago the rags had a poor-ish record against the other top clubs but took 58 points out of 60 on their way to winning the league. That year apart, in most seasons the outcome of the championship is significantly affected by how the top teams do against each other - without some of the dodgy refereeing decisions against us last season against other top 6 clubs for instance the league would have been much much closer than it ended up being.

So anyway, I thought I would create a thread concentrating on this mini league. It will be interesting to see how closely the mini league mirrors the actual league.

These are the results so far amongst the mini league

Spurs 1 v 2 Chelsea
Liverpool 4 v 0 Arsenal
City 5 v 0 Liverpool
Chelsea 0 v 0 Arsenal
Chelsea 0 v 1 City

These then are the standings:

1 City played 2 points 6
2 Chelsea played 3 points 4
3 Liverpool played 2 points 3
4 Arsenal played 2 points 1
5 Spurs played 1 points 0
6 Rags played 0 points 0

Points to note so far:

  1. We have played both the other top 6 teams we have faced off the park.
  2. The only time a top six team has given another a real shellacking (City games not included) was when Arsenal downed tools at Liverpool.
  3. The others games against each other seem to suggest they are all operating at a similar-ish sort of level. None of them strikes me as being too far away from the others, and all seem to be operating at a level somewhat lower than our own.
  4. Spurs home form (inside and outside the mini league) suggests their home form may be their undoing, especially within the mini league. Away from home they seem pretty powerful. 16 December at our place is one to watch, and on current evidence will IMO give us a tougher test than away at the swamp the week before
  5. Arsenal look like bringing their usual inconsistency to the party - did well away at Chelsea, shocking at Anfield.
  6. Chelsea, having played 3 of their 10 most difficult fixtures already, are arguably (despite bring outplayed by us and matched by Arsenal) pretty well positioned: you would not back against them to win 5 or 6 of their remaining mini league fixtures. I certainly think they, not the rags, are the team to beat.
  7. The rags, as we know, are yet to be tested by any team in the top 6. Or the top 12, for that matter. What that means is that they have all 10 of their most difficult fixtures yet to face. I haven't looked at their fixture list, but assuming the second half of the season broadly mirrors the first, that rather suggests they will have a pretty tough run-in. We already know the next 5-6 weeks is the time they will either establish themselves as real contenders or be found out.
 
Not enough games played to make any sound conclusions as yet. early Signs are promising but we will know more at the end of Oct when the rags and the rest have played more.
 
From our perspective it's fair to summise that we're already ahead of last years curve

Spurs 1pt
Pool 1pt
Spurs 1pt
Chelsea 0 pts
Just shut up with your positivity mate, no one asked you to be complimentary of the club!

I mean, where is bluemoon headed if this sort of generally optimistic and supportive drivel is allowed to propagate unabashed across all the threads!?
 
Not enough games played to make any sound conclusions as yet. early Signs are promising but we will know more at the end of Oct when the rags and the rest have played more.

Agree completely, but the early signs are worth commenting on nonetheless, and I thought that I would bump and update the thread as we go through the season.
 
Not enough games played to make any sound conclusions as yet. early Signs are promising but we will know more at the end of Oct when the rags and the rest have played more.

I think we've seen enough to know we've significantly improved.
Chelsea still a mixed bag.
Liverpool a mixed bag but will do worse than the rest of the top 6 playing the rest of the teams.
Arsenal, shit, Chelsea game a one off.
Spurs, we'll have to wait for their next big game at wembley.
United, too early, played 'nobody'.
 
Nice little early season analysis. Chelsea will be a threat I think. As for the scum, the favourable decisions and all the rest of the gifts they get will no doubt give them a leg up if needed.
 

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