[Albion] Contenders?

[Bridcutt]

Absolutely not. We will have games like vs West Ham and Everton last season where we will lose by 3 or 4. Top 4 is possible if United, Chelsea and Newcastle drop off & we handle the schedule of European and cup competition games well

 

[Silverhatch]

Of course we are.

The squad, and first team (whatever RDZ decides that is), OOOOOOOZES quality. They'll be bumps in the road, but we'll be right at the sharp end this season. It'll take MONTHS for the MSM to catch up - and even then the praise will be tinged with small-club condescension.

 

[rogersix]

40 to 1 on paddy power, city 4 to 11!

top 4: 6th fav @ 2 to 1

top scorer: ferguson 5th fav @ 25 to 1, haaland 1 to 4!

 

[The Colonel]

Not for me, we’ve had a relatively easy run of games so far. West Ham and United results the only surprises Imo which balance each other out.

We've already played the teams that finished third and fourth last season in our first five. How is that easy?

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Absolutely not. No chance.

 

[A1X]

It’s mid-September.

 

[Napper]

It’s likely Top 5 is champions league this year

Would still take top 10 and European run

 

[rogersix]

It’s likely Top 5 is champions league this year

would you know when that's decided?

 

[jcdenton08]

I’d be delighted with top ten and a cup win of some description. To finally win major silverware would be massive

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

would you know when that's decided?

At the end of the season as the extra Champions League places are given to the two associations with the most coefficient points for the 23-24 season.

 

[Coldeanseagull]

Not sure about winning it, or even top four.......but we could be mathematically safe by Christmas!

 

[MattBackHome]

Absolutely zero chance

 

[dazzer6666]

I’d be delighted with top ten and a cup win of some description. To finally win major silverware would be massive

This.

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

There are no contenders - there is Man City and for the rest a race to 2nd place

Yeah we are in the race as much as anyone can be in the race with City and their human cheat code, Haaland.

 

[Bozza]

At the end of the season as the extra Champions League places are given to the two associations with the most coefficient points for the 23-24 season.

...and it would be a major turn-up if England dropped from first to third, or lower. To all intents and purposes, England will have five qualifying spots from the 2023/24 Premier League season.

Country coefficients | UEFA rankings

UEFA.com is the official site of UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations, and the governing body of football in Europe. UEFA works to promote, protect and develop European football across its 55 member associations and organises some of the world’s most famous football competitions...

www.uefa.com

 

[Icy Gull]

We've already played the teams that finished third and fourth last season in our first five. How is that easy?

Both struggling this season though

 

[A1X]

Let’s not underestimate what we’re up against. Man City alone could field two XIs and both would expect to qualify for Europe.

Leicester won the league, and I’d argue we could be seen as being as good as that team if we continue on this trajectory. But to win that league they needed all 6 of the big teams to fail to do so, and for various reasons they did. At present, two of them look a shambles (Man Utd and Chelsea), but no signs of the others doing so. We can be as good as we could conceivably be and come up well short of the title.

Realistically, scraping into the top 4 is the ultimate ceiling for us. And that’s relying on hundreds of things going our way across the season. Anything better than that would require extraordinary levels of luck, it could happen but it realistically won’t.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Absolutely not. No chance.

Absolutely zero chance

Well there clearly is *a* chance. If the question 'Will we qualify for Europe this season?' was asked one year ago, it would've got a similar reaction - but just look what happened.

Having said that, I am fully aware that the chance of actually winning the whole damn thing is very much close to zero/no!

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

...and it would be a major turn-up if England dropped from first to third, or lower. To all intents and purposes, England will have five qualifying spots from the 2023/24 Premier League season.

Country coefficients | UEFA rankings

UEFA.com is the official site of UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations, and the governing body of football in Europe. UEFA works to promote, protect and develop European football across its 55 member associations and organises some of the world’s most famous football competitions...

www.uefa.com

Last time we were outside of the top 2 was the 16-17 season. That was the season Leicester got the the Champions League QF but were our only representives left by then. Man City and Arsenal got knocked out in the round of 16. Spurs finished 3rd in their group and ended up in the Europa League getting knocked out in the round of 32. Man Utd won the Europa League which helped, but Southampton failed to get out of the group stage. Spain and Germany were the top 2.

This season we will be helped by having an extra side due to West Ham winning the Conference League. So providing no-one does a Southampton and our Champions League teams play like Champions League teams (Utd and Newcastle i'm looking at you) we should stay in the top 2.

 

[trueblue]

We’re as much contenders as anyone else - for second place. City are so far ahead of everyone it’s virtually impossible to topple them. Otherwise, anyone better than us? Not really. With Europe it’ll be tough but the overall squad is stronger this year. I’ve revised my opinion considerably upwards and think we have a top 4 chance.

That said, if we finish top half and have a good Cup run I’ll be happy. Top 4 would be amazing though for the opportunity it would present to keep the team and manager content for another year.