A v Norwich A v Palace H v Spurs A v Sunderland H v Soton A v Cardiff H v Newcastle A v West Ham We're on 23 points 40 points is presumed safety I think with our goal difference 37 will be ok as cannot see the all but 3 of the 10 teams below us getting 20 points in the remaining 17 games when they've failed to get that number from 21 games to date. There is a definite Top 7 too who are all pushing for the title / Champs League slots which could help with a lower points target too so games the bottom 11 mini league teams will see one or both dropping points 8 points from the above will keep us ahead of the points per game ratio Under 8 points will be a disaster 12 or more points will probably see us on a path to survival Can we get 12 points from the above or is that unrealistic?
After today that is our toughest fixture out of the way until we play Man City in mid March. I'm not saying the other games are easy by any means, but you at least look at those and see us having a realistic chance of getting something. As Balmpey said on another thread, we've played Liverpool twice and Man United, Arsenal and Chelsea in the last 6 weeks so it's good to have come through that spell still in midtable. If we can get 3 or 4 points from Norwich and Palace that will hopefully settle things down.
We need to get most of the points we need in those 8 games, as our run towards the end of the season is a lot harder than our current run. We can't leave it to the tough games towards the end we need to do it now to ensure our safety. Will also allow us to plan for next season a lot easier.
Don't think its unrealistic. Jelavic could provide the goal scoring threat we've been missing. Aluko could be back in February. I could see us with 4 draws and 2 wins for 10 points and 33 total with 10 games to play. A v Norwich -1 A v Palace -1 H v Spurs- 3 A v Sunderland- 0 H v Soton-1 A v Cardiff-1 H v Newcastle-1 A v West Ham-3
Winning vs Spurs would be the worst way to accrue 3 points on that run - similarly Soton and Newcastle. Although the three points would be gladly received we need to take the points off those around us - this was our downfall 5 years ago
A v Norwich 0-2 A v Palace 1-1 H v Spurs 1-3 A v Sunderland 0-1 H v Soton 1-1 A v Cardiff 1-1 H v Newcastle 1-0 A v West Ham 1-1 13 points IMO. Many a score draw.
I don't see anybody needing 40 points this season. I reckon around 35/36 to be the cut off point. It's going to be tight at the bottom.
Thing is they're all picking up points semi-regularly so I do actually think it could end up being 38-40 points needed.
I guess my point is we're 6 points from 20th place, Sunderland just won, West Ham just won, Fulham won last week, etc. There's no one dropping off and going on a big losing streak in the relegation zone.
Sunderland Palace and Cardiff might not win again for the rest of the season, who knows. We can hope.
All the games we need to win out of those fixtures are against the teams below us currently in the league. They are almost all away fixtures so it's going to be tough. Our away form has been poor this season but we've had a lot of hard fixtures away from home.
It's difficult to judge with the Window being open, if we sign Jelavic and he starts knocking them in, then we could easily win most of those games. Also depends on how everyone else strengthens but presently 12 points would be fantastic!
