RandoEFC

Running out of time for a proper write up so this week: @Rick (Wolfsburg) eliminated. Down to five survivors who backed Leipzig. @RandoEFC @6666 @nudge @Bluewolf and @Michael, please make your next picks. Wolfsburg for me.

I saw United's xG was over 4 tonight which is also mad.

So City are about to be further behind Arsenal and Liverpool than they are ahead of United all of a sudden .

Sadly having to sit through this absolutely turgid Liverpool game. Wouldn't shock me if they fucked this late on. Surely got to be close to curtains for Steve Cooper after that hiding by Fulham.

A least you weren't alone tonight . Thought evens was nice odds for this set of outcomes.

That was a bit mental. I didn't see much of him at Brentford but Raya really isn't delivering so far at Arsenal. It's turning into a bit of an unforced error from Arteta in my opinion. I don't think Ramsdale is world class and I get that they're always trying to improve each position wherever possible but he wasn't exactly costing them games last season and now there's this circus you get when you dump your first choice goalkeeper, the new guy isn't vindicating your decision and it's difficult to go back to the previous number one because now he knows you don't trust him entirely. Ah well, at least they've not got Onana in goal .

Just trying to choose winners that are pretty much 'nailed on' where the price for -1.0 is around 1.50 or better. Decent run of slow and steady profit at the moment but the problem with that strategy is a single loss can undo 2-3 "half wins".

The ref fucked up there blowing for the free kick when Grealish was in but you can tell City rarely have decisions go against them by the petulant reaction. Haaland fishing for a ban here after the whistle.

Hard to tell if City are genuinely a bit complacent this season or whether they're just keeping in touch and waiting to activate the 16 game winning streak to close out the season when De Bruyne comes back from injury .

Braga 3-1 Cherno More 2-1 Profit of £5.25

It is for Man Utd surely? They've been spanking away £70-80m on players every window and paying £300k a week to players who warm their bench or even don't play. If FFP has shown us one thing, it's that the already rich clubs can continue to spend whatever the fuck they want no matter how much of it they waste, and anyone who wants to progress from the chasing pack either has to make it into the Champions League off their first injection of £250m or end up having to sell off all their assets over the course of several transfer windows to balance the books and then take a 10 point deduction anyway for the privilege .

Obviously they'll waste some of the TV slots on Arsenal vs Liverpool and probably either the Chelsea or Spurs games. The Newcastle one is a great draw. Wigan vs Man Utd as well. There's four all Premier League ties in there and four more top flight teams who have to go away to Championship sides so should bode well for any underdogs looking for a cup run. Very good chance of a big tie for say whoever gets through the Maidstone/Port Vale/Stevenage tie.

Yeah Dyche has definitely found something that works. Again, I think if the -10 had been implemented before the season started and we'd already made it to +7 points then he'd be getting a lot more in the way of plaudits. Even if we don't get any of the points back on appeal I'd be looking for us to target Forest and Bournemouth by the end of the season and not just settling to survive.

I only saw parts of the game tonight but Martial, Antony, Rashford must all be infuriating for Man Utd fans. Absolute shite defeatist body language. And that's not to mention Sancho who isn't even turning up at the moment. I think we've all been saying it for years now. Any successful Man Utd manager needs licence to bomb out this entire squad over the course of several seasons, stop signing wannabe galacticos, stop handing out 250k a week contracts until there's a team on the pitch that deserve to be valued that highly. For all the banter about the likes of Maguire and McTominay, those are a couple of the ones who actually have the professionalism and desire to form the core of a team the fans can actually identify with again. If this process means a few years out of the Champions League or even Europe altogether then so be it. It would actually do them good to become a less attractive destination for players because currently they're the place to go for players who want a 5 year contract on Man City wages without ever having to actually produce the Man City standards.

If our players aren't queueing up to put that little tap in merchant into the stands in the first 5 minutes on Thursday night then they aren't doing it right .