As predicted, teams down near the bottom are fighting hard and picking up points. Big game for us on Friday...if we lose, we're still in the relegation mix. Some (yes you Doc ) were stating we were safe on 32 points and that was never going to be the case. Nearly there, but too soon to start thinking it's job done.
There is no way WBA or Sheff Utd will get 32 points and whoever is 3rd from bottom may not either yet
FA Cup next weekend, which means only 2 PL fixtures which involve teams near the bottom. Fulham v Leeds (Fri KO 8pm) Brighton v Newcastle (Sat KO 8pm) Fulham are in very good form and playing with bags of confidence...ok they lost against City yesterday, but put up a good show before the game went away from them. They play an atrractive style and always look to pass out from the back, which means they'll be going toe-to-toe with us and so expect a very open match similar to the encounter at ER earlier this season.
Well if Fulham win on Friday they'll be on 29 with 8 games to go. Plus Brighton v Newcastle is tasty and will see one of them reach 30 points
Last 8 matches form guide... Fulham 12 points Newcastle 9 points Brighton 11 points Burnley 11 points Even the worst form team Newcastle are likely to get to 38 points minimum.
So on the basis of form over the last 8 games, we should pick up a minimum of 7 points giving us a total of 42 :,-)
I always thought what we have now,36, would be enough but 40 would be nice. Will be interesting to see what the 18th placed team finish on, reading around, folk think it will be anything from 32- 37.
Newcastle have an interesting run in. Brighton (a) Spurs (h) Burnley (a) West Ham (h) Liverpool (a) Arsenal (h) Leicester (a) Man City (h) Sheff Utd (h) Fulham (a) I'd say they are the most likely to go down. Regarding ourselves, I think we are close to have done enough. Couple of important games coming up for us before we head in to a run of really tough games (City, Scum, Liverpool). It would be nice to avoid defeat at Fulham to keep that cushion in tact. If we have a nightmare and somehow lose the next two games and head in to that trio mentioned above then I could see how we might be under pressure but we have enough quality to collect the 4 points needed to stay up.
Even BHA have a tough task to get any points as they still have Man Utd, Everton, Chelsea, Leeds, Wolves, WHU, Man City and Arsenal to play
Arsenal will be mid table and by then Sheff Utd will be down, but all the others will still have something to play for.
When I did my prediction table I had us getting 6 points from those 5 games (plus Chelsea) , with us drawing with Chelsea and Fulham, beating Sheff Utd losing to Man City, and then a draw and defeat from either of the Scum and Liverpool games. Of course I also didn't expect Burnley and Brighton to win, so I don't think anyone will be calling me gypsy Aski Lee anytime soon
Europe could be an important factor too. Notice we play Man City in between their 2 probable Champions League 1/4 final matches. Whilst they have a good enough squad to manage, if the likes of Arsenal and Spurs prioritise Europa, could continue to see some interesting results.
Haven't looked but was thinking earlier, if Manure and the scousers have Euro games around when they play us, winning the CL could be Liverpool's best chance to get back in the comp next season by then.
Dont discount Everton in this run in because they are 3 points ahead of Liverpool and fighting for a top 6 place and be the top Merseyside team and in Europe... so any team down the bottom expecting an easy ride?
Think we play Liverpool a few days after their 2nd leg, so let's hope it's a close tie. Scum a few days before the semi IF they make it that far.
Sheff utd are three down at Leicester and are doomed. 14 points needed to just stand a chance. But only 27 points if they won them all.