Laughing
Well-known member
Where I would disagree with the cup analogy, tc, is that teams play weakened sides in the early rounds. Back in the 80's there was a group of only 5 sides that won the cup, almost, all the time. Because teams wanted to win the fa cup, as opposed to, finishing 4th being a bigger prize.It is consecutive seasons, but I don't think it's a coincidence that an article written to show that finishing 3rd is a huge advantage in the play-offs deliberately excluded the two most recent seasons where 3rd didn't win it and included two seasons from further back where they did.
It's obviously not a complete lottery, the team in 3rd is usually the 3rd best team in the league and will win more than the team that finished 6th, but it's more akin to cup football than the league.
The 2 domestic cups have turned in to a "lottery" because the prem teams play their reserves.