switters

Sinclair useful player to counter with though, esp if Everton push forward more (which they have to do) - him on for N'Zogbia is a likely sub, depending on how things develop. Cole is also on bench and useful for seeing out games, esp if Grealish tires.

WOOHOO! perfect end to the half. Everton surely won't be as poor in the second, but a 2 goal margin is very nice.

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no disguising the fact it's a big game for us. could end the day in 14th looking moderately safe or 18th deep in the mire. We can't control results elsewhere, just gotta come away with 3 points by whatever means. while Everton are in good form, one thing I'm clinging to is that most of that has been at home & I don't think they are as convincing away.

Not a good day looking at the table, but I think we'll be alright with 3 home games remaining & playing well (going forward, at least). I can't see Burnley or QPR catching us from 5/6pts behind in 4 matches and I can't see Hull or Sunderland getting more points than us in their remaining fixtures - one of them will take the last spot. Hopefully Liverpool and Chelsea can do us a favour midweek and keep Hull/Leicester below us.

Agents of our own downfall today. Especially frustrating not to get the point after doing so well to fight back from 2 nil down. City were poor and all three goals conceded were avoidable. the Benteke offside at the end was borderline, but we also rode our luck with decisions earlier. We should be fine if we keep playing like we did in 2nd half & against Liverpool. Weaker teams will not be able to handle the combination of Benteke's power & Delph/Grealish/N'Zogbia running at them. positive to see Cleverley and Sanchez on scoresheet. need more goals from midfield.

wow Cleverley scored a goal!

I hate having to support Stoke and West Ham, but needs must.

Another possibility at QPR is Matt Phillips - similar style player to Townsend but looked much more impressive against us recently and would be considerably cheaper.

I wouldn't be surprised if he goes for a bit of big game experience and starts Cole for this one instead of Grealish. with Sanchez and Gabby out, I think we're looking at something like: Given Lowton-Vlaar-Baker-Richardson Cleverley Bacuna-Delph Cole Weimann-Benteke Bacuna at RB and Westwood DM if he is back. hopefully Sinclair is fit for bench at least as he'd be useful option to bring on if we chasing game.

Huge win, real gutsy performance. Experienced players really stepped up today: Vlaar, Cleverley, Delph, Benteke, Guzan, Gabby all deserve praise. Baker too, with a tough job coming in for Clark after 20 mins. Ref was trying his best for Spurs but we clung on. Hull and Sunderland losing makes this a great day.

A rather ridiculous game, played at 90mph throughout. we needed to get a two goal cushion, but defensive weakness cost us Guzan 6 - didn't have a huge amount to do, but had to pick ball out of net 3 times. Bacuna 6 - offered lots going forward, esp first half when he was given the run of the pitch. but very shaky at times in defence. Vlaar 6 - mostly alright, distribution iffy Clark 6 - mostly alright Richardson 1 - got done by Phillips too many times to count. directly responsible for two of the goals conceded, hence he can add two points here to the three he cost against Stoke. should never play again unless in extreme injury crisis. Sanchez 6 - did well for the 2nd goal. lets himself down with occasional sloppiness & faded out of game late on. Cleverley 7 - plays better at high tempo. faded in 2nd half, but understandable as been injured Delph 7 - so much drive & energy. on downside lost his man for first goal. Grealish 7 - good first half, faded 2nd. the odd naive pass shows his inexperience but could be some player Agbonlahor 6 - worked hard but didn't get much fall his way in terms of chances Benteke 10 - superb hattrick, looked back to very best, dominated QPR defence

Cole's been v.good since coming on. not sure why he gets so much stick. been generally good on the pitch for us - the problem is he's only fit for half an hour a month.

Richardson should be shot. from a cannon. into a wall. **** useless turd just cost us a place in the division.

well there was Sanchez's trademark brainfart. Thankfully did not cost us.

QPR bringing on Karl Henry. Expect Grealish ankles to be in pain shortly..

Good half, but we really should have a 2 or 3 goal cushion. I worry whether we can keep the pace up and I don't want us to be tiring and clinging on in the last 20 mins. QPR will surely sub Kranjcar who has been the big empty space on their left midfield and is on a booking. Caulker is one more foul away from a 2nd yellow, so hopefully we can get Gabby and Grealish running at him.

Benteke AWESOME! beautifully done.

looked a penalty. their defence not handling our front two.

Game passed him by so far.

keep high intensity & we will get plenty more chances. Grealish doing well - although there's always the odd naive pass from him which can be dangerous if we're committing lots forward. question is whether we can defend well enough, as they will get chances to break.

YES! this could be a high scoring one

****. Bacuna can't defend

Never looked like getting anything, no real threat going forward & no composure on the ball anywhere. I don't think the lineup or gameplan was terrible but the fullbacks struggled throughout the match and none of our forwards had a good game. But tbh, there was little chance of getting anything in this fixture, Tuesday is the big one. the worst effect of today could be the relative difference in momentum it's set up between us and QPR. some illustration of the gulf in the two sides today: Man Utd's cheapest player out there today was Daley Blind, who cost £14m, while our most expensive was N'Zogbia at £10m. pay £30m and you get a Herrera - pay £5m and you get a Sanchez. not to say we can't expect a better performance than today, but realistically they are always going to be stronger than us when there's such a vast gulf in resources.

easy to say in retrospect, but if Gabby had just knocked the ball left rather than towards goal, that would've been pen & a red card.