oishiiniku_uk

Wolves played ok for the first 15-20 minutes and created one decent chance in that time. We controlled the game easily after we scored our first. Luton were a handful in the second half, but we should have been out of sight with how we dominated the first 45. Also, if xG is such an accurate indicator, why aren't Newcastle 3rd and Chelsea 5th in the league table? Cos according to xG they should be...

XG is only one indicator of how a game went. Are you really suggesting that Wolves and Luton played better than us? We should have been well out of sight against Luton in the first half and Wolves had two notable chances (which accounted for most of their xG) in the entire game. You could argue that it's been a while since we played well for the entire 90 minutes, but we have been the better team overall in most of the recent games against lesser opposition (Fulham, Forest, Luton, Wolves etc.) As for Spurs playing like a top 4/5 team while we're not, we're exactly the same in the form table (10 pts from the last 6 games). And didn't they lose pathetically to Fulham recently and fail to beat West Ham? They only took 4 points from those teams this season whereas we've taken 10. Also, their next 6 games are tougher than ours I would argue, so if they're above us after that then fair dos.

Unfortunately it seems players have to 'do their time' in the England u21s etc. - including summer tournaments - if they want to get a senior call-up someday. (unless you play for a big six club and then you can just jump the queue, of course!)

Emi kept us up before he even joined us: I remember having Watford's game vs Arsenal on while also watching us vs West Ham on the final day of 19-20 season and Emi made a couple of world class saves for Arsenal that day at 3-2. Things could have bean very different if he hadn't played well that day...

It's been a while since we were screwed by VAR. Probably going to get some dodgy decision go against us that miraculously keeps Man City right in the title race.

Dyche has been trying to nil-nil his way to safety since Xmas. Everton are probably the worst team to watch in the league. At least the teams below them try to play football. It feels like all fight has been drained from even their fans this season so not sure how much stomach food the battle the team will have if they slip into the relegation zone again.

Jon Champion on Peacock last night in his Professor Yaffle voice: 'Spurs could prove to be Kingmakers - they still have to play all of the top 3.' I could have sworn that there was another team who still have to play Arsenal, Man City and Liverpool, have already beaten two of them this season, and are above Spurs in the table, but hey who can keep track of the 'non-elite' teams, eh? I'd love it if we somehow (slim odds!) beat Man City and Arsenal - the media would have to put us back in their little title challenger graphics again!

By overachieving for a number of seasons. Klopp had sustained success at Dortmund before coming to Liverpool, Unai did well at Almeria, Sevilla and Valencia before getting the job at PSG. So far De Zerbi has taken Sassuolo, a mid-table Serie A team to slightly higher in the table, won a Super Cup with Shakhtar (who win something most seasons) and got Brighton to 6th, but only due to their flying start under Potter at the beginning of the campaign. I just don't think it's enough of a CV to jump from Brighton (who at this point have achieved no more than Southampton did a few years back) to the biggest managerial jobs in the world. A stepping stone like West Ham, Newcastle or similar sized clubs in Europe would make more sense to me.

I don't disagree that Brighton have exceeded expectations, but I think that's more down to their model than De Zerbi. I don't get how you go from doing a decent job at a mid-table club to being a serious candidate for Liverpool/Bayern/Barcelona. Seems a big leap. But hey, if Southgate can get the Man Utd job then anything is possible...

Almiron and Livramento both got injured yesterday also, so one of them is probably the other.

Has Anthony Taylor left his yellow card at home?

Lascelles out for 6-9 months now with an ACL injury and apparently another of the players who went off injured yesterday is a long-term absence too...

If we hadn't lost Pau to injury and Kamara to suspension vs Brentford we might well have had another 5 points at this stage.

De Zerbi averaged approx 1.5 ppg in his 25 league games last season and is on course to do about the same this time around. That kind of average over 38 games gets you 8th-11th place normally. Potter got 9th in the 21-22 season with an inferior squad.

That is shameful from Udogie. Hand on his shoulder and he goes down like he's been shot in the face. We need VAR reds for simulation like that.

Ooh, another chance for Kabore to score for Spurs but he misses the target...

Cool finish from Kabore there.... What was he trying to do exactly?

Who is more cursed? Newcastle or Kalvin Phillips?

I fancy West Ham to do a similar job on Spurs in midweek.

Another Newcastle injury. Still just bad luck, mind.

Ref bottled that decision with Burn for sure.

Was Kudus trying to borrow the ball boy's stool for his celebration?

If you fall over in the vicinity of England hero Anthony Gordon then be prepared to concede a foul.

He's on at least 3 fouls in this game already and I'd say it's a fair bet he gets booked in the second half.

Coufal so bad.