BT's final two games at least have meaning, which is fortunate for them. Fulham are fighting for survival and Southampton v Everton, which could've easily been kinda pointless, is now vital in the race for 4th.
After those two games, BT's final game is West Ham v Spurs (R37) - which could be relevant for EL qualification.
At this point it looks as if Man Utd and Spurs are "battling" for the final EL spot.
When is the decision on the final day being made, and how many games can be shown, and sorry as it has probably been already answered on the thread.
As it stands at the moment - Sky has 3 games left for the final day. BT definitely has none.
The games won't be picked until after R37 (and they may even wait until after the final midweek matches if necessary).
I guess it is possible Sky could decide to show Man Utd v Hull (final midweek) at the last minute if only 2 games end up being needed on the final day.
As it stands at the moment - Sky has 3 games left for the final day. BT definitely has none.
I guess it is possible Sky could decide to show Man Utd v Hull (final midweek) at the last minute if only 2 games end up being needed on the final day.
4th place could well be decided before the final day but I think the only way they'd only need two matches is if the relegated teams are all decided on the penultimate weekend, which seems unlikely due to Sunderland v West Brom being in the final mid-week.
As it stands at the moment - Sky has 3 games left for the final day. BT definitely has none.
The games won't be picked until after R37 (and they may even wait until after the final midweek matches if necessary).
I guess it is possible Sky could decide to show Man Utd v Hull (final midweek) at the last minute if only 2 games end up being needed on the final day.
The only remaining question is whether Sky will pick 2 games in the final midweek.
Sunderland v WBA could be a vital game, or have no meaning at all. The good thing is that Sky will not need to move the kickoff time should they decide they want to televise this game. Also as MLT11 says Manchester United v Hull could be shown if it is important.
If they only need 2 games on the final day, and both Sunderland v WBA, and Manchester United v Hull are unimportant, I expect Sky to show Manchester United v Hull, as it gets an extra Manchester United game on the TV.
I've only just noticed that Southampton vs. Cardiff has been dropped by Sky for next weekend. When, and Why, did this happen?
I suppose it makes sense as they can now have an extra game later on.
I didn't realize that they did select that in the first place; I've only ever had three games for that week. I think Sky deferred fourth picks from weeks 28, 33 and 38 and used them as two fifth and one sixth picks in weeks 35 and 36.
Just on what Sky can do with their last three games, I'm not sure they can pick any combination of games. For example, I don't think they can pick Man Utd v Hull and the last Liverpool and Chelsea games as I think they are all maxed out in Package D. But, as discussed previously, we can't know for sure.
By the way this is roughly the order I think the priority will be for the final day:
Title
Relegation
4th
3rd (automatic champions league place, i.e. avoids qualifications)
Europa League places
3rd place is pointless unless Chelsea/United are still in the Champions League at that point. No English club has ever failed to qualify via the playoffs; the opposing team is usually no match for the 4th best team in the Premier League.
Spurs/United fighting for Europa League is far more interesting than who comes 3rd.
3rd place is pointless unless Chelsea/United are still in the Champions League at that point. No English club has ever failed to qualify via the playoffs; the opposing team is usually no match for the 4th best team in the Premier League.
Spurs/United fighting for Europa League is far more interesting than who comes 3rd.
Agree 100%. The fight for who gets into the Europa league is a million miles more interesting/important than who gets into the CL group stage automatically and who has to qualify.
I didn't realize that they did select that in the first place; I've only ever had three games for that week. I think Sky deferred fourth picks from weeks 28, 33 and 38 and used them as two fifth and one sixth picks in weeks 35 and 36.
Southampton v Cardiff was definitely never picked as a TV game.
See link for original Sky announcement of April games.
3rd place is pointless unless Chelsea/United are still in the Champions League at that point. No English club has ever failed to qualify via the playoffs; the opposing team is usually no match for the 4th best team in the Premier League.
Spurs/United fighting for Europa League is far more interesting than who comes 3rd.
I think the top 3 was confirmed today, so I don't think that will be an issue.
Didn't Newcastle lose to Partizan Belgrade in the qualifiers and didn't Everton lose to Villarreal? Or do you mean since UEFA rebranded them as play-offs?!
Everton's coefficient isn't great so they will be unseeded for the play-off draw so that could give them a tricky tie such as Napoli. Hoepfully they'll get through it as I think they deserve it.
3rd place is pointless unless Chelsea/United are still in the Champions League at that point. No English club has ever failed to qualify via the playoffs; the opposing team is usually no match for the 4th best team in the Premier League.
Everton failed in 2005.
One reason the English club almost always qualifies is because they are almost always seeded.
If Liverpool (OK, now unlikely) or Everton come 4th they will be unseeded.
I would not regard Everton as a certainty to beat, for example, Napoli.
Seems you're right. I definitely saw it on the PL website though, as I wondered if Sky had ever had three tripleheaders on consecutive weekends.
Liverpool vs. Man City is down for 2:05pm currently (which is obviously wrong now), and Southampton vs. Cardiff was previously listed for 12pm. Obviously that was a mistake.
At the end of GoS yesterday Ben said we will see you at the earlier time of 9:30 next sunday, but surely that would have ben if they had the Aresnal v West Ham game at noon.
Hmm I was sure no-one's failed to get through since the current format was devised 12 or so years ago.
The Europa League is different of course.
99/00 Leeds 3rd Qualified
00/01 Liverpool 3rd Qualified
01/02 Man United 3rd Qualified
01/02 Newcastle 4th Qualified 02/03 Newcastle 3rd Lost But were Seeded
02/03 Chelsea 4th Qualified
03/04 Man United 3rd Qualified
03/04 Liverpool 4th Qualified
04/05 Man United 3rd Qualified 04/05 Everton 4th Lost Non Seeded
05/06 Liverpool 3rd Qualified
05/06 Arsenal 4th Qualified
06/07 Liverpool 3rd Qualified
06/07 Arsenal 4th Qualified
07/08 Arsenal 3rd Qualified
07/08 Liverpool 4th Qualified
==========================
08/09 Arsenal 4th Qualified
09/10 Spurs 4th Qualified
10/11 Arsenal 4th Qualified
11/12 No Qualification needed
12/13 Arsenal 4th Qualified
I guess it is possible Sky could decide to show Man Utd v Hull (final midweek) at the last minute if only 2 games end up being needed on the final day.
The only remaining question is whether Sky will pick 2 games in the final midweek.
Sunderland v WBA could be a vital game, or have no meaning at all. The good thing is that Sky will not need to move the kickoff time should they decide they want to televise this game. Also as MLT11 says Manchester United v Hull could be shown if it is important.
If they only need 2 games on the final day, and both Sunderland v WBA, and Manchester United v Hull are unimportant, I expect Sky to show Manchester United v Hull, as it gets an extra Manchester United game on the TV.
At the moment Sunderland-West Brom is scheduled for the Wednesday (the same night as Sky are showing Man City-Aston Villa) so if Sky do want to pick up that game they would surely need to do so soon as it wouldn't be fair to change the day shortly beforehand.
If the title is won in R37, with the 'confirming match' being Crystal Palace-Liverpool on the Monday, would it be logistically possible for Sky to pick up Man Utd-Hull overnight? I think it's more likely that if Man City or Liverpool win the title, then their final game will be shown (along with two relegation battle or top four games) as both are at home and thus will have the trophy presentation that day. Liverpool-Newcastle in particular would be a big event for Sky to cover - a very emotional day for all at Anfield and actually a good pair of teams from a TV audience viewpoint. However I do understand that to maximise their ratings, it makes more sense for Sky to show Man Utd-Hull the previous Tuesday when its the only game taking place.
This is obviously just one possible scenario where two games only are needed on the final day. If the title race requires two games and nothing else is at stake, then Man Utd-Hull would be the ideal choice, but I have my doubts as to whether Sky could put together an entire production at what could be very short notice.
99/00 Leeds 3rd Qualified
00/01 Liverpool 3rd Qualified
01/02 Man United 3rd Qualified
01/02 Newcastle 4th Qualified 02/03 Newcastle 3rd Lost But were Seeded
02/03 Chelsea 4th Qualified
03/04 Man United 3rd Qualified
03/04 Liverpool 4th Qualified
04/05 Man United 3rd Qualified 04/05 Everton 4th Lost Non Seeded
05/06 Liverpool 3rd Qualified
05/06 Arsenal 4th Qualified
06/07 Liverpool 3rd Qualified
06/07 Arsenal 4th Qualified
07/08 Arsenal 3rd Qualified
07/08 Liverpool 4th Qualified
==========================
08/09 Arsenal 4th Qualified
09/10 Spurs 4th Qualified
10/11 Arsenal 4th Qualified
11/12 No Qualification needed
12/13 Arsenal 4th Qualified
Everton would have Qualified that season, if mr Collina didn't disallow a perfectly good goal, wasn't that Mr Collina's very last game
At the moment Sunderland-West Brom is scheduled for the Wednesday (the same night as Sky are showing Man City-Aston Villa) so if Sky do want to pick up that game they would surely need to do so soon as it wouldn't be fair to change the day shortly beforehand.
This is obviously just one possible scenario where two games only are needed on the final day. If the title race requires two games and nothing else is at stake, then Man Utd-Hull would be the ideal choice, but I have my doubts as to whether Sky could put together an entire production at what could be very short notice.
On Sunderland v West Brom being moved at short notice, nothing would surprise me. On Man Utd v Hull there will be some cameras/production staff there anyway so I think they probably could turn it around quite quickly if needed/wanted.
My question is, do you think Sky can show any combination of teams? I have Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man Utd maxed out in Package D. I have one Package D game left meaning Sky couldn't show a combination of three of these four teams. Obviously this assumes that nothing's happened behind the scenes that we don't know about.
Comments
After those two games, BT's final game is West Ham v Spurs (R37) - which could be relevant for EL qualification.
At this point it looks as if Man Utd and Spurs are "battling" for the final EL spot.
Yes - the R37 picks were only announced on Friday afternoon.
As it stands at the moment - Sky has 3 games left for the final day. BT definitely has none.
The games won't be picked until after R37 (and they may even wait until after the final midweek matches if necessary).
I guess it is possible Sky could decide to show Man Utd v Hull (final midweek) at the last minute if only 2 games end up being needed on the final day.
4th place could well be decided before the final day but I think the only way they'd only need two matches is if the relegated teams are all decided on the penultimate weekend, which seems unlikely due to Sunderland v West Brom being in the final mid-week.
Surely the title won't be decided before then...
The decision will be made after every team has played 37 games, and either 2 or 3.
Thanks both, and it makes complete sense to leave it as late as possible.
Sunderland v WBA could be a vital game, or have no meaning at all. The good thing is that Sky will not need to move the kickoff time should they decide they want to televise this game. Also as MLT11 says Manchester United v Hull could be shown if it is important.
If they only need 2 games on the final day, and both Sunderland v WBA, and Manchester United v Hull are unimportant, I expect Sky to show Manchester United v Hull, as it gets an extra Manchester United game on the TV.
Title
Relegation
4th
3rd (automatic champions league place, i.e. avoids qualifications)
Europa League places
I suppose it makes sense as they can now have an extra game later on.
I didn't realize that they did select that in the first place; I've only ever had three games for that week. I think Sky deferred fourth picks from weeks 28, 33 and 38 and used them as two fifth and one sixth picks in weeks 35 and 36.
Just on what Sky can do with their last three games, I'm not sure they can pick any combination of games. For example, I don't think they can pick Man Utd v Hull and the last Liverpool and Chelsea games as I think they are all maxed out in Package D. But, as discussed previously, we can't know for sure.
Spurs/United fighting for Europa League is far more interesting than who comes 3rd.
Agree 100%. The fight for who gets into the Europa league is a million miles more interesting/important than who gets into the CL group stage automatically and who has to qualify.
Southampton v Cardiff was definitely never picked as a TV game.
See link for original Sky announcement of April games.
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11661/9187156/sky-sports-adds-more-live-premier-league-fixtures-to-biggest-ever-season
I think the top 3 was confirmed today, so I don't think that will be an issue.
Didn't Newcastle lose to Partizan Belgrade in the qualifiers and didn't Everton lose to Villarreal? Or do you mean since UEFA rebranded them as play-offs?!
Everton's coefficient isn't great so they will be unseeded for the play-off draw so that could give them a tricky tie such as Napoli. Hoepfully they'll get through it as I think they deserve it.
Everton failed in 2005.
One reason the English club almost always qualifies is because they are almost always seeded.
If Liverpool (OK, now unlikely) or Everton come 4th they will be unseeded.
I would not regard Everton as a certainty to beat, for example, Napoli.
EDIT: I was beaten to it!!!
The Europa League is different of course.
Liverpool vs. Man City is down for 2:05pm currently (which is obviously wrong now), and Southampton vs. Cardiff was previously listed for 12pm. Obviously that was a mistake.
It seems they don't even now what is going on
If Arsenal are 5th and win the FA Cup
Then 6th AND 7th place will get into the Europa League
So there will be no Battle to watch !!!!
99/00 Leeds 3rd Qualified
00/01 Liverpool 3rd Qualified
01/02 Man United 3rd Qualified
01/02 Newcastle 4th Qualified
02/03 Newcastle 3rd Lost But were Seeded
02/03 Chelsea 4th Qualified
03/04 Man United 3rd Qualified
03/04 Liverpool 4th Qualified
04/05 Man United 3rd Qualified
04/05 Everton 4th Lost Non Seeded
05/06 Liverpool 3rd Qualified
05/06 Arsenal 4th Qualified
06/07 Liverpool 3rd Qualified
06/07 Arsenal 4th Qualified
07/08 Arsenal 3rd Qualified
07/08 Liverpool 4th Qualified
==========================
08/09 Arsenal 4th Qualified
09/10 Spurs 4th Qualified
10/11 Arsenal 4th Qualified
11/12 No Qualification needed
12/13 Arsenal 4th Qualified
At the moment Sunderland-West Brom is scheduled for the Wednesday (the same night as Sky are showing Man City-Aston Villa) so if Sky do want to pick up that game they would surely need to do so soon as it wouldn't be fair to change the day shortly beforehand.
If the title is won in R37, with the 'confirming match' being Crystal Palace-Liverpool on the Monday, would it be logistically possible for Sky to pick up Man Utd-Hull overnight? I think it's more likely that if Man City or Liverpool win the title, then their final game will be shown (along with two relegation battle or top four games) as both are at home and thus will have the trophy presentation that day. Liverpool-Newcastle in particular would be a big event for Sky to cover - a very emotional day for all at Anfield and actually a good pair of teams from a TV audience viewpoint. However I do understand that to maximise their ratings, it makes more sense for Sky to show Man Utd-Hull the previous Tuesday when its the only game taking place.
This is obviously just one possible scenario where two games only are needed on the final day. If the title race requires two games and nothing else is at stake, then Man Utd-Hull would be the ideal choice, but I have my doubts as to whether Sky could put together an entire production at what could be very short notice.
Everton would have Qualified that season, if mr Collina didn't disallow a perfectly good goal, wasn't that Mr Collina's very last game
On Sunderland v West Brom being moved at short notice, nothing would surprise me. On Man Utd v Hull there will be some cameras/production staff there anyway so I think they probably could turn it around quite quickly if needed/wanted.
My question is, do you think Sky can show any combination of teams? I have Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man Utd maxed out in Package D. I have one Package D game left meaning Sky couldn't show a combination of three of these four teams. Obviously this assumes that nothing's happened behind the scenes that we don't know about.