What matters most? League placing or European football?

There seems to be two camps forming with regard to what is wanted at the end of the season.

In the blue corner we have European qualification, which is becoming less and less dependant on our league placing. For example a win today will see us open up a ten point gap between us and 8th placed Sunderland. In the red corner we have those wanting a league placing as high as can be.

The question is, ultimately, what is most important to us? What do you feel would give us the greater benefit? Qualifying for Europe or finishing in, say, 6th place in the Premier League, which is no mean feat I hasten to add, but it would be hollow if we missed out on Europe because two teams below grabbed the spots from the cup competitions.

Personally I don't think we are going to finish any lower than 7th place now, which is why I'm posing the question. I guess equally I could ask if 7th would be acceptable providing we get into Europe?

Of course the easy answer is to try and finish as high up as possible regardless and hope for Europe, but with only 5th guaranteeing a place in the Europa League the odds of that are slim, even though we aren't too far away from Chelsea right now.

Anyway, most of us are aware of the permutations and know what is needed for either preference, the thing that needs answering now is what your particular preference is.

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