Who will come 4th in the Prem?

United will look a completely different team when, Rooney, Van Perise, Fellaini, Nani and Mata (if it happens) come back to the team.

Also how long can Liverpool rely on Suarez for? The better he plays, the more likely he will leave in the summer. But I don't think he can carry Liverpool on his back for the rest of the season, there is bound to be a drought at some point.

But they have Sturridge, they'd only dropped 3 points when Suarez wasn't playing in a match.

But they were better defensively at the start of the season. 3 clean sheets in a row first 3 games of the season... 3 more all season since.

Arsenal are currently 8 points ahead of 4th place. I think they're safe for 3rd anyway. As are Chelsea and City at this moment. No doubt their defence has been poor, but they'll just outscore you. Their GD is ridiculous anyway.

Also, United have conceded 27 goals, Liverpool have conceded 28 and Spurs have conceded 26. City have also conceded 25 goals. Liverpool have conceded no more than their top 4 competitors, and even that of a title contender.

Everton will probably get injuries though and fall off. Same with Newcastle. Personally, Everton remind me like last season, they're getting so many draws, they just rarely ever lose. But they almost draw every other game. I think it's gonna be hard for them to sustain a run of form in that case, while with Liverpool, Spurs and United, you know they can go on runs of form.

United will get 4th. By the time we start playing the teams above us, Rooney and RVP should be back and playing together again and we've only ever lost one game (City at home in a semi dead rubber) when they've played together.

That 6 point gap between United and Liverpool will be swallowed up by April.

I personally don't see it being that black and white, though. There's no suggestion that Arsenal will finish top three.

Of course there is a suggestion, which is the fact that they currently lead the table with 8 points seperating them from 4th place. There is no guarantee, that is correct. But to be honest, I find United not reaching 4th place more likely than Arsenal dropping down to it.

Sorry I meant 'guarantee' - got caught up in the post and let my fingers move too fast for my brain.

I completely agree with you. I just meant that Arsenal's run-in IS exceptionally tough.

Now, they could realistically drop points at each and every match on that list. Granted, Southampton Stoke and Hull are all (on paper) relatively comfortable wins, but stranger things have happened. If Arsenal are to drop a few points here and there, what's to say the psychology of the players will change? They could become tentative, nervous and the beginnings of a rut could surface.

But that's all guesswork. For now, they remain a title contender and I think it's unlikely that they will slip to 4th. I can see them finishing 3rd, though, with not much separating them and Chelsea. I expect City to pull away come March, in truth.

Arsenal have been very good in several performances, they have just managed to win other games. The Cardiff match was a real struggle and, although Arsenal thoroughly deserved to win, they could just as easily have been left frustrated. It can be tempting to use a cliché and say something like "that's the mark of champions", but I do think these frustrating games will come.

The run of you games you mentioned will be exceptionally difficult, with the 4 games against Spurs, Chelsea and City and Everton carrying a realistic chance of costing Arsenal up to 12 points.

Another problem I think Arsenal have is their lack of a top striker. Their midfield is sublime, but I can't help but feel it's only a matter of time before teams learn how to shut out the goals from the midfielders. An injury to Giroud would leave Arsenal very few options up front, and I'm sure we have all seen Spain and Barcelona struggle to score when they play 4 at the back, with 2 banks of 3 midfielders ahead of them. Long term injuries to Koscielny or Mertesacker would be a major blow, too.

It seems that Wenger will not be making any moves in this transfer window and that worries me. I would love Arsenal to win the league but I, like most others, think City will win it at a canter, and while I do expect Arsenal to finish in the top 4, I do not think it is as set in stone as a lot of people seem to.

I think we have the advantage. With most big games at home, we've been fairly solid at home bar a few slips. Points and GD advantage too.

Really though it comes down to whether or not we can fix up our defence and DM spot.
The defence will improve because Sakho is coming back fron injury so we should have a stable back 4. Flanno is coming back to, the fact I even say that is terrible..
That will leave the DM to be fixed, I'm hoping we bring one in. Fernando or M'villa and then hopefully a LB or RB.

All of that being said I think we have the advantage, Tottenham may give us some stiff competition but I think they will slip up a few times and lose/draw to the teams around them. They were pretty lucky to beat Manu tbh.
Don't think Mata will make enough of a difference at Manu, their CM/DM/Defence still needs work. If they can barely get the ball from Sunderland how are they supposed to control the ball enough for Mata to even be effective. Not to mention a lot of their play comes from the wings.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was decided on GD though.