Play Off Permutations & Predictions Part Two
Having previously studied Division Two and given my two pence worth for who will make the play offs I turned my attention to Division Three. What an almost impossible division to predict, its so close that anything can happen, probably will and my predictions will be completely wrong. But once again rather than stare at the wall or God forbid actually do some work I went ahead with my lowdown anyway.
Again please feel free to comment and rag me if or when I'm wrong. (positions 1-10 covered, (agologies to 11th and below but my hand just cant write or type anymore)
Division 3
CSKA Moskva currently lead the way on goal difference and they go into the final five games on the back of a 1-1-1 record, they face four of their promotion rivals with Sampdoria being the other game. Manager Sir Walter Smith will be hoping his side can hold on and grind out the results needed
Prediction Moskva to record valuable draws against Villa, PSV and Swansea and beat Leicester and Sampdoria to finish in 3rd place
Ajax the Dutch maestros approach the final furlong on the back of 2 defeats after 4 previous wins. Tough games are the order of the day in this division as the Dutch face 3 promotion rivals sandwiched between 2 relegation fighters
Prediction I'm going for 11 points from 15 for Michael H's men. Wins against Sampdoria, PSV and Lille with useful draws at Leicester and Swansea see Ajax finish in 1st place
FC Basel the divisions top scorers occupy the final automatic promotion spot and go into the run in with a 1-1-1 record from their last 3 games. Manager Rab Kennedy will surely have looked at the fixtures and be thinking automatic promotion and avoiding the play offs is well within their grasp.
Prediction Basel to breeze to 4 out of 5 wins, losing to Bordeaux, picking up 12 points from 15 and to finish in 2nd place
Aston Villa Rahul's in form team on the back of 2 wins head into the final straight high on confidence. A couple of tricky games to negotiate - CSKA and Stoke, with the others being Cruzeiro, Besiktas and Palace.
Prediction Villa fans feel their side can do enough to secure a play off spot and so do I. 8 points beating Cruzeiro and Palace and draws against CSKA and Stoke will be enough to get Villa 61 points and finish in 4th place
Leicester City The Foxes take a recent 1-1-1 record into the final straight. Manager Johnann Du Plessis will be looking to make the play offs minimum with games against Ajax and CSKA sandwiched between Shakhtar, Monaco and Cruzeiro.
Prediction Leicester to pick up wins against Shakhtar and Monaco, draws with Cruzeiro and Ajax and a defeat to CSKA see them finish in 5th place
Marseille with a recent record of 1-1-1 manager Sir Kevin Wallace will be hoping his side can hit form at the right time and secure a play off place at minimum. Les Olimpiens won their last league game 6 games ago and the fans are hoping their heroes can turn their form around. Swansea and Bordeaux are the biggest threats with other games looking winnable
Prediction Marseille to improve their form and go the last 5 games unbeaten....2 wins against Hamburg and Hoffenheim but dropped points in draws with Swansea, Lille and Bordeaux will see the French side miss out on the play offs and finish in 8th place (on goal difference)
PSV occupy the final play off spot and manager Heath Brown will be keeping his fingers and toes crossed that the mightily impressive Luuk De jong with 17 goals already this season can add to his tally. PSV's final games see's them face Monaco and Shakhtar before a double header against CSKA and Ajax, they then finish the season home to Cruizero
Prediction I predict 2 wins against Monaco and Cruzeiro, a draw against CSKA and defeats to Ajax and Stoke. 7 points, with De Jongs goals thats 60 points and PSV to finish in 7th place (on goal difference)
Stoke the Potters have to go back 7 games for their last win against fellow promotion hopefuls Basel. Manager Muz Muz will be working hard to turn around the clubs fortunes. The toughest remaining games are Villa away and PSV at home in the final game. Form is not on Stokes side but as this division constantly proves anything can happen
Prediction Stoke to pick up wins against Besiktas, Sampdoria and crucially PSV, with draws against Palace and Villa, culminating in 11 points to total 60 and finish in 6th place (on goal difference)
Swansea the Swans managed by Tony Lennox sit on the edge of the play offs in 9th and are unbeaten in 3 games with 2 wins and a draw. They face 3 fellow promotion hopefuls in the final straight and fans will be hoping Ayew and Adriano can fire them to the lottery games.
Prediction 1 win against Monaco and 4 draws in the rest, picking up 7 points to total 56 points and finish in 10th place
Bordeaux Anders Dahlbys side sit 2 points off the play offs with a recent record of 1-1-1, they face Basel and Marseille sandwiched between games against Hoffenheim, Shakhtar and Sassuolo. Fans will be hoping Les Girondins can nick a spot in the play offs but I'm not so sure.
Prediction Wins against Hoffenheim, Shakhtar and a big scalp against Basel will not be enough with draws against Sassuolo and Marseille. Bordeaux will pick up a hefty 11 points from the final fifteen but wont be enough to see them into a coveted play off spot and they finish in 9th place
So to recap and put things in order my predictions on the final standings as follows
1) Ajax
2) Basel
3) CSKA Moskva
4) Aston Villa
5) Leicester City
6) Stoke City
7) PSV
8) Marseille
9) Bordeaux
10) Swansea
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