Stan

Hoffenheim 1-2 RB Leipzig
Dortmund 3-1 Augsburg
Wolfsburg 2-0 Darmstadt
Werder Bremen 1-2 Gladbach
Stuttgart 2-1 Bayern
Koln 0-2 Freiburg
Union Berlin 1-0 Bochum
Frankfurt 1-2 Leverkusen
Heidenheim 1-2 Mainz

Reminder

@Pyfish @Rucksackfranzose  @nawoo 

Saturday
Leeds 2-2 Southampton
Plymouth 3-2 Hull
Celtic 1-0 Hearts
Girona 0-1 Barcelona

Sunday
Melbourne Victory 2-3 Melbourne City
DC United 2-1 Philadelphia
Hannover 1-3 Paderborn
Empoli 0-0 Frosinone
Man City Women 1-1 Arsenal Women
AZ Alkmaar 2-1 Twente

In the space of a few days Leicester were promoted without kicking a ball after Leeds were thrashed away at QPR, and then sealed the title with a convincing win over Preston. A day later, and Ipswich found themselves 99.9% promoted after beating Coventry away. Leeds look destined for the play-offs.

Regarding those play-offs, perhaps this is where the most drama will play out on the final day, as 3 teams battle it out for the final 2 spots. Hull picked up a point in a very entertaining 3-3 draw with Ipswich on Saturday and this, along with Norwich and West Brom dropping points, put them in contention to grab one of those prized spots...

Final Games
Ipswich vs Huddersfield
Leeds vs Southampton

Birmingham vs Norwich
West Brom vs Preston
Plymouth vs Hull

Permutations
- Ipswich just need a point, regardless of what Leeds do, to secure automatic promotion and a return to the PL after more than 2 decades
- Leeds must win and hope Ipswich lose

- Norwich just need a point regardless of what West Brom & Hull do
- West Brom just need a draw too, even if Hull win as it is unlikely there will be an 11-goal swing in goal difference
- Hull have to win and hope West Brom lose, or that Norwich lose by enough to have a swing of 7 goals in Hull's favour.

9 hours ago, Devil said:

So a little bit of maintenance shouldn't put people off.

This is true, but cost of it might. 

Ipswich 99% there. 

Leeds consigned to the playoffs unless Huddersfield do them a favour on the final day... 

Week 37 Results
Jahn Regensburg 1-1 Dresden
Bayern Munich 2-1 Frankfurt
Edinburgh 1-3 Stirling City
Fenerbahce 2-1 Besiktas
Juventus 0-0 AC Milan
Chelsea Women 0-2 Barcelona Women
Amiens 0-0 Troyes
Schalke 1-1 Dusseldorf
Connah's Quay 1-1 TNS
Real Betis 1-1 Sevilla

Round-up
The personally selected fixtures threw up some tough games to guess for, as there were 6 draws in total, and two of them being goalless. However, two members did predict those goalless draws, and interestingly all players who did predict all got 1 perfect score which doesn't happen too often. Highest score came from @CaaC (John) with 13 points, while @Viva la FCB in 3rd scored 1 fewer point.  

GAME 129 - PLYMOUTH vs HULL - SATURDAY 4th MAY, 12.30 (BST)

GAME 130 - SHEFF UTD vs NOTTM FOREST - SATURDAY 4th MAY, 15.00 (BST)

***any predictions made after kick-off will not count***

@Mel81x @Lucas @6666 @Dr. Gonzo @Michael @Redcanuck  @CaaC (John) @Devil-Dick Willie  @JoshBRFC @Viva la FCB @Pyfish @Bluewolf @Tommy @Rucksackfranzose 

Two more derbies to pick through and we only had winners for one of them.

Game 127 was where it was at, with a 15th-minute first goal:

On 25/04/2024 at 20:18, 6666 said:

17

1 point

On 25/04/2024 at 20:33, Lucas said:

16th

2 points

Game 128 was also in first half, but in the 38th minute. No winners.

Table after Game 128:

@6666 extends his lead to two points, and @Lucas jumps up into 3rd with his 2 points and is now only 3 points behind the leader.

6 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Young doesn't play the ball and yeah they're supposed to stop with the nicknames, but remembering that probably requires minimal competence so no surprise they've forgotten.

Is this the penalty that Webb has said should have been? 

37 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I can't see where Young plays the ball but I thought they were meant to stop with the nicknames? 

6 minutes ago, MUFC said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68927702

Absolutely mental.

1 hour ago, MUFC said:

Not looking for a property but I do have a question. When you've put an offer in for a house. How far under the asking price do you go? If the house is up for £350,000 how low would you start?

Depends on situation.

Probably lowball but not take the absolute piss. Somewhere in between £335,000-345,000. 

You'd like to think the sellers would have factored that in, too.

Another points deductions for insolvency? Only seen the headline so guess there's a lot more context to that potential. 

36 minutes ago, Danny said:

One thing I respect about Leicester is how the likes of Vardy, Dewsbury-Hall, Ndidi, Ricardo, Justin etc stuck around to get the club back up.

I don’t know how much the club needed the money from the Maddison sale and maybe that plays a role in him leaving but it does leave a bit of a stain when players who should have kept the club up, much like Tielemans, jump ship

We definitely did need the money but losing Tielemans on a free was bad management from us. Same as Soyuncu too. 

32 minutes ago, CaaC (John) said:

@Stan, @Dan, at 37 years old do you think Vardy will still have it in him again mixing with the big boys, that guy is unreal and was always a thorn in our sides when he played against United, he got a brace the other night.

Yep. I'd love him to stay. Not ready for him to leave if he does this summer. 

6 hours ago, Reluctant Striker said:

It was 1 of the more surprising relegations of recent times. And at least was followed by 1 of the most predictable immediate bounce backs. It would not surprise me if they challenge in the top half again straight away, pending any punishment. But also expecting next season's bottom 3 to be a less obvious set of clubs too.

Not sure it'll be that good a return with an imminent points deduction looming and having to sell some key players to bring the money in. 

Gonna have to have a very good summer recruiting... 

11 minutes ago, Whiskey said:

Weren't you crying the other day about your owners 

Yes? Why can't I still do that but be happy that we're back in the Premier League ? 

Bizarre point to make. 

Up as Champions. Breaking some records in the process. Happy days!

21 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Wouldn't this in turn encourage more owners taking money out of clubs and likely increase the number of foreign ownership? If there are clubs generating 150-200m of 'spare cash' every year, there would be a stampede of billionaires looking to invest billions on clubs that are guaranteeing an 8% return every year. 

 

 

Yeah it's one thing being debated - the top clubs will be able to spend freely like they have been. Can see it leading to more US and Saudi owners... 

41 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

Always hesitate to be too optimistic about anything any football authorities do but this seems like a step in the right direction. 4.5x seems a bit high though. Only Man City and Chelsea would apparently have to reduce their spending. Which means that Man Utd's spending, for example, would still be legit and it still stops the rest of the pyramid ever seeing those teams remotely pulled back into the pack in terms of finances. Some cap is better than none though. 

Yeah it's a step in the right direction. If it's any higher, like 5x, then only Chelsea have to cut their spending. Higher than that, at 6x, then everyone continues to spend like they have been. 

Quote

 

Premier League clubs have agreed in principle to introduce a spending cap.

A majority of clubs voted in favour of the spending cap, which will be determined by the amount of money earned in television rights by the lowest-earning club in the Premier League.

If approved at June's AGM, the new model will replace the Profit and Sustainability Regulations presently used from the 2025-26 season onwards.

The league's current financial rules, which have seen Everton and Nottingham Forest penalised six and four points respectively this season, have been criticised for favouring clubs with the highest revenue.

The new model is being referred to as "anchoring".

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cpegd3dy8j7o

10 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

He didn’t feign injury until the ref comes over and talks to him. PMGOL should release the audio, but I doubt they will.

I agree, they should. I'm also intrigued to hear it. 

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