The £30m battle for The Champions League spot
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Feel the fourth! Newcastle gatecrash the £30m battle for Euro spot
Pounce: Papiss Cisse helped fire Newcastle one step closer to the Champions League
Down: Tottenham have been in poor form of late
Spirit: Newcastle are in tremendous form
Newcastle were the big winners as the fight for fourth place in the Premier League and a £30million Champions League bounty took another twist.
Chelsea are sixth after being held 1-1 by neighbours Fulham on Monday when a Frank Lampard penalty was cancelled out late on by Clint Dempsey.
Newcastle had earlier gatecrashed the race with a 2-0 home win over Bolton thanks to another goal from their prolific January signing Papiss Cisse.
It put them level on 59 points with fourth placed Tottenham, who stumbled to a 2-1 defeat at home to Norwich.
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp warned: ‘It’s going to be close - it will be the team who wants it most.’
Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo added: ‘We’re closer to that fourth spot than we were. We were always playing catch-up, so the situation was difficult from the start.
‘We have to look at it positively. We are closer now than we were a month ago.
‘I think it’s going to go down to the last game. Again today, you saw some unexpected results.’
Even in-form Arsenal, who go to bottom club Wolves tomorrow on the back of eight wins in nine games, are not certain to qualify with just a two-point advantage keeping them third.
Redknapp, favourite to be offered the England manager’s job, is under most pressure after Monday’s defeat left his side having taken just six points from their past eight games.
.'Spurs were once 10 points clear of Arsenal, but have faltered since Fabio Capello quit in February and uncertainty began to surround Redknapp’s future.
Elliott Bennett gave Norwich victory after Jermain Defoe had levelled Anthony Pilkington’s early goal.
Redknapp admitted: ‘We had a bad day. It’s going to be close, but there are still five games to go. We don’t lose too many games at home. I don’t think we have to win all five. Chelsea play Newcastle; they can’t both win.
Dumped: Tottenham have been brought back down to earth by recent results
Destroyer: Clint Dempsey nodded home from a corner to foil Chelsea
‘It would be lovely to finish above Arsenal but we’d settle for finishing fourth. We’ve not been in bad form but today was a setback. All to play for though, still.’Newcastle have been the surprise package and yet another goal from £9.5million January recruit Cisse, following a wonder strike by Hatem Ben Arfa against Bolton, gave them their fifth win in a row.
Manager Alan Pardew said: ‘If the FA Cup semis go our way, we could be in Europe by the weekend and if that works in our favour, then there is nothing we can do except go for the Champions League.
‘I have never ruled out the Champions League. To have this points total and not finish in Europe would be tough to take, so we’ve got to keep our eyes on the ball. And we’re not giving up on anything, apart from winning the title.’
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The £30m battle for The Champions League spot
Arsenal / Played 32 - 61 pts / Gd +22
Saturday, 16 April - Arsenal v Wigan
Saturday, 21 April - Arsenal v Chelsea
Saturday, 28 April - Stoke v Arsenal
Saturday, 5 May - Arsenal v Norwich
Sunday, 13 May - West Brom v ArsenalTottenham / Played 33 - 59 pts / Gd +19
Saturday, 21 April - QPR v Tottenham
Saturday, 28 April - Tottenham v Blackburn
Saturday, 2 May - Bolton v Tottenham
Saturday, 5 May - Aston Villa v Tottenham
Sunday, 13 May - Tottenham v Fulham
Newcastle / Played 33 - 59 pts / Gd +8
Sat 21 Apr - Newcastle V Stoke
Sat 28 Apr - Wigan V Newcastle
Wed 2 May - Chelsea V Newcastle
Sun 6 May - Newcastle V Man City
Sun 13 May - Everton V NewcastleChelsea / Played 33 - 57 pts / Gd +18
Saturday, 21 April - Arsenal v Chelsea
Saturday, 28 April - Chelsea v QPR
Wed 2 May - Chelsea V Newcastle
Saturday, 5 May - Liverpool v Chelsea
Sunday, 13 May - Chelsea v Blackburn
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if newcastle were to secure 4th place, it will be shocker of the season.
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look at chelsea's remaining matches, all tough matches. I do not think they can finish 4th place. if they want to play in CL next season, they would need to win the CL this season, but first they need to beat barcelona to progress to the final.
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spurs are still favourite to finish 4th. both arsenal and newcastle have to play chelsea. i strongly believe chelsea wont finish 4th. although they have improved a lot since di matteo took over they are still not good enough. my bet is man u (champion), man city (runners-up), arsenal, spurs, newcastle, chelsea.
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Refreshing to see Newcastle fighting for the top 4. Hope they don't puncture the next few games.
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spurs gone case. cant even beat norwich at home and draw at the weekend. spurs is like man city, running out of steam and form at this late stage of the season. looks like newcastle form is finely poised to qualify for 4th place.
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Originally posted by dragg:
spurs are still favourite to finish 4th. both arsenal and newcastle have to play chelsea.
i strongly believe chelsea wont finish 4th. although they have improved a lot since di matteo took over they are still not good enough.my bet is man u (champion), man city (runners-up), arsenal, spurs, newcastle, chelsea.
spurs? cant even beat norwich at home and drawn over the weekend. they are running out of steam and form, newcastle may pipped them for 4th place, dun rule that out.
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I hope Newcastle get the 4th spot. Then the other bigger teams will wake up next season.
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for arsenal match
4 diff match
Wolves
Chelsea
Stoke
West Brom
if they can win 3 out of 4 ... we ok -
Gunners likely to finish 3rd. Battle for 4th between Spurs and Magpies. Pardew didn't look like one for big jobs. Maybe he has some kind of magic power on him?
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Wigan is going to be tricky tie and the next 2 that follows - Chelsea & Man City - will be decisive in which position Newcastle will be at the end of the season. As a football fan, I want to see Newcastle take 4th spot. For all the hard work the team has put through, they deserve a place in Europe.
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Chelsea will finish 4th lah...............especially after that kelong win over Wigan.......
i support Newcastle though.............i love to see English teams embarrass themselves in Champs League !
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Originally posted by iveco:
Gunners likely to finish 3rd. Battle for 4th between Spurs and Magpies. Pardew didn't look like one for big jobs. Maybe he has some kind of magic power on him?
aiyah, English clubs are like that one................one season good form, next season crash liao.........
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Originally posted by Susanteo2011:
Chelsea will finish 4th lah...............especially after that kelong win over Wigan.......
i support Newcastle though.............i love to see English teams embarrass themselves in Champs League !
Chances are Newcastle will be mediocre next season. It happened many times in the premiership. Remember Ipswich, Birmingham? -
Keep Rocking Newcastle!! On the safe side, go on top of Arsenal. As for Spurs? They're on a free fall, Harry... What happen?
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Arsenal under pressure..........
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even chelsea have a chance to finish 4th. i wonder if they'll go for it or focus on the CL? i think the latter.
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Top 4
Man City
Man Utd
Arsenal
Spurs