Time to reassess: 71 points won't get us CL

[KevMirallas]

One big signing and we are well and truly set. I remain confident.

 

[Big Fat Sam]

Gutted the year we're flying in the league it appears another three or four teams are doing just as well. Real bad luck.

 

[Big Fat Sam]

2 losses on the bounce and your no better than Newcastle or Southampton. The league is mental this year.

I think they're way out of the equation now for top seven.

It's a four-way fight for fourth.

Tight as hell, will go the wire y'all.

 

[evilwebby]

We had a travel-lite Xmas/NY, but the boot is on the other foot now and we have a crucial run of away fixtures coming up:

• West Brom (away) - Premier League
• Stevenage (away) - FA Cup
• Liverpool (away) - Premier League
• Aston Villa (home) - Premier League
• Tottenham (away) - Premier League

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[Kurt.]

21 games down, 17 to go.

I think in the back of Roberto's mind he may already be raising his goals, because imo 71 points isn't going to be enough to get us in the CL this season.

Liverpool, 42pts:
avg 2.0 pts/game
Need to average 1.705pts going forward, also likely to have a superior GD if it comes down to that.
Will finish on 76pts at current rate


Everton, 41pts
avg 1.95 pts/game
need to average 1.76pts going forward to reach 71.
will finish on 74pts at current rate


Spurs, 40pts:
avg 1.905pts/game
need to average 1.82pts going forward to reach 71.
will finish on 72pts at current rate


ManU 37pts:
avg 1.76pts/games
need to average 2.0pts going forward to reach 71.
will finish on 70pts at current rate

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It's not impossible that 71 points would only be good enough for 7th. At any rate, I just can't see how it would be good enough to get 4th, given the points already accumulated by Liverpool and Spurs.

This is the mother of all fights we have been in, during all our time in the PL era. I'm saying 78 points needs to be our aim. That's another 37 points from the remaining 17 games. We're going to need some big wins and some big performances to pull it off.

Mate, you really need to get out and get lad ffs.

 

[Big Fat Sam]

We had a travel-lite Xmas/NY, but the boot is on the other foot now and we have a crucial run of away fixtures coming up:

• West Brom (away) - Premier League
• Stevenage (away) - FA Cup
• Liverpool (away) - Premier League
• Aston Villa (home) - Premier League
• Tottenham (away) - Premier League

----

We need to avoid defeat against the RS and Spurs and then beat WBA.

If we can take eight points from the 12 available that'll be decent imo and put us in good stead going forward.

 

[Jay]

Was thinking the same, a team will get 70+ points and finish 6th or 7th!

 

[zirc]

We need to avoid defeat against the RS and Spurs and then beat WBA.

If we can take eight points from the 12 available that'll be decent imo and put us in good stead going forward.

I think you can divide the rest of the season into 3 parts: from now until Chelsea away on 22nd Feb, March, and the run in. I also think 75 points should be the target now.

These are our final 6:

Arsenal (H)
Sunderland (A)
Man Utd (H)
Southampton (A)
Man City (H)
Hull City (A)

That is a tough run in and I don't think we can count on getting more than 8 points from those fixtures. Meaning we would need 26 points from our next 11 league fixtures to get to 75. If we can get 8/15 from the four you mention + Chelsea, we're going to need to have a perfect March. All of those matches are winnable (Newcastle away being the toughest of the lot) and I think our results there will determine our season.

8 from our next 5 and 8 from our last 6 should be achievable, but we need to be flawless in those five March fixtures. If we can somehow get more than 8 points out of the next possible 15 that would make it a lot easier on us.

 

[PaddyG]

Crazy this year. Just need to continue playing the way we are, keep looking to control games and going for the win.

Each game we play becomes more and more important.

 

[allen]

It's so early in Martinez's reign that all things being equal, and injuries being minimal, we should be getting better with every game.

Fourth is definitely still a possibility. But it's next season that really excites me.

 

[degsy]

2 losses on the bounce and your no better than Newcastle or Southampton.

Is right.

One game at a time is the key...for both management, players AND fans.

The points will...or will not be enough.

I fear GD will do for us.

I can see us doing United and City at home but only drawing with Southampton and Hull away ( years of everton pessimism / realism kicking in )

 

[zirc]

I fear GD will do for us.

We've got a better GD than Utd and Spurs. If we can't finish above Liverpool i don't think we deserve 4th tbh.

 

[degsy]

It's crazy how high the standards are this season.

If you fail to win just one game, you're punished. There's just no margin for error.

Mind you, I'd rather be playing with the big boys and have those insanely high standards to live up to.

It's tough at the top -
but it's tougher at the bottom
and down right boring inbetween....Turtle's Progress

 

[Ashtonluke]

Almost goes without saying but our home form is crucial. We need to win 7 out of our 9 home games remaining and draw the other two as a minimum. That would give us 64 points. If we maintain that sort of home form (which is possible given how good we have been at goodison in last 12 months). We probably need around 12 away points to get CL.

 

[Michael Bazel Betschart]

We will win the league guys.