We are halfway and have made a fantastic start. Looking at the games to come I reckon we can raise 40 more points realistically.
I reckon we'll acquire more points away from home & less from home, than the 1st half of the season. That would be my guess.
45 points is my target, so that we reach the two-points-per-game total of 92 (which will 99% result in automatic promotion). So that would be, for example, 13 wins, 6 draws, and 4 defeats. However, as little as 35 - 40 points could end up being enough for a top 2 finish. And just 10 - 12 wins should secure that. Amazingly, if you look at top 6 rather than top 2, we probably only need another 25 points to secure a play-off spot (that would take us to 72 points - which is exactly double what 6th placed Reading currently have). That's just 7 wins and 4 draws. At an absoloute push, 30 points might be needed. But in terms of what I think we'll get, well that's an exceptionally difficult question to answer. Depends largely on injuries and suspensions, and what happens in the January transfer window. I'd be looking for at least 7 wins from our remaining 11 home games, but ideally 9, especially considering who we've still got to play. So that's 21 - 27 points, plus any draws - so more like 24 - 30 points. But how many points we pick up away - and to hit the 45 point mark for this second half of the season, we could end up needing around 20 points away - really does depend on the factors I've already mentioned. Right this minute though, I can't see us getting 92.
Same again [47 points] would be great. We'll have to raise our game to do it though. There's an awful lot of Away fixtures against our immediate rivals. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/southampton/fixtures/default.stm For example: [excluding Brighton] West Ham, Leeds, Hull, Crystal Palace, Middlesborough. They will be tough games. Then we have Birmingham and Blackpool [not forgetting Brighton], who won't be pushovers, either. Mind you, we have Leicester, Cardiff and Reading at home. If we win all our Home games, and do ok in the Away section, we'll be promoted, possibly as Champions. But we absolutely must win all the Home games. Make no mistake, it's not going to be a stroll. This is another reason why every game is a must-win game [I'm going to make this point every time someone alludes to the fact that we could come unstuck, this season].
85 is the number I'm watching, as that's the high-water mark for a third-place team since the Championship became the Championship (and thus most likely good enough to go up, assuming our goal differential continues at its current level. That's 38 more points, and as Brendy said, if we dominate at home it won't take too much on the road to get there.
I'm going to take a punt at 46. Made up of 13 wins (9 Home + 4 Away), 7 draws (2 Home & 5 Away) and 3 deafets (All away- Birmingham, West Ham & Blackpool). So thats a total of 94. Think we will win the league by around 3-5 points from West Ham. Don't know if its the festive period or what but I am feeling confident. Neck is firmly stuck out on this one
Can also be looked at another way...if no one does better than us we go up with a 3 point lead. Although it's tough at the top, the pressure is also on the chasing pack.
Not sure how 47 + 46 = 94 (have you been having lessons from Beddytare?), but I agree that's quite a good shout. I know it's a close thing at the top at the moment, but I can't see more than 2 teams getting 90+ points. Just hope we're one of them!
I'm gonna say the magic number will be 25 wins if we want Automatic promotion, as that seems to be the figure from the past few seasons. If we hit that, we will be promoted.
