Top Four Possibility

[degsy]

I am a big believer that we can get 4th, however if we don't beat Boro then it's pretty much over, let's just focus on Boro. Beat them then beat Sunderland and we will be right in the mix.

Only 1 team is top 4 and that Chelsea, the rest is all to play for

True.
aka; one game at a time.

 

[Mountfield1985]

I wouldn't say its a long shot, I would be disappointed if we failed to get less than 12 points from those 5 games!

Sorry, I meant long shot as in we would still be very much outsiders even if we manage 12-15 points from next 5.

 

[ggooggooggoo]

save your pennies and the pounds look after themselves.

'Boro is the next penny to save

Thankyou Mary Whitehouse.

 

[evertonarntwe]

to have any chance what so ever of finishing anywhere near the top 4, we need to win 4 out of the next 5 games and possibly getting a draw from spurs away

no doubt we will bottle it horribly in at least 1 of these games.

 

[Bally8]

Need to take this one game at a time, would be typical of us to lose on Sat to someone like Boro so hopefully we get past that test then finish off Sunderland. You go into the Spurs game with some swagger about you and its about time we won there again.

 

[Barnfred 55]

We didn't need a whole thread to say the following...

Possible. Yes, of course.
Probable. Absolutely not.

Can we all agree on that?

This, in a nutshell.

To get top 4 we need

1) Maintain our current run of fine form until the end of the season. We can't afford a run of even 2/3 games without a win.

2) Disregarding Chelsea who are out of sight as far as we're concerned, we need 3 of the other 5 teams above us to slip up.

3) We need to do well overall in the four away games we have against teams above us. Minimum of 5 points return required, i.e 1 win and 2 draws.

4) We need lady luck to be on our side. Luck with injuries, refereeing decisions, and just dumb luck like Macca's goal on Saturday.

The odds are stacked against us and the bookies don't often get it too wrong from this stage in the season. However on the positive side we are now a very fit outfit, there appears to be great camaraderie within the group, and we have an in form and confident Ross Barkley, who can be the difference against any team.

I am of the view that we are capable of winning each of the games we have left, but experience and common sense tells me that we won't win all of them.

My gut feeling tells me we'll have a damn good go, but have left ourselves too much to do following the disastrous Autumn form. I can see us finishing at best 6th, but more likely 7th with a points total of around mid 60s. That may still be good enough for a euro slot, and if we're on the coat tails of the group above, then that represents a decent first season for RK.

 

[bluestevon]

I agree with this, we could go on a very good run in the next 5 or 6 games and possibly get into the 4th/5th position.
But then we have to maintain that form once we are there! Every team in that top 6 are capable of going on long winning streaks so we would not be able to have any sort of dip in form (e.g a 1 win in 4 sequence) It could turn week by week depending on who picks up what result.
Remember when we hammered arsenal 3-0 at our place after winning 5 in a row to get 3 points ahead of arsenal in 4th? In the space of a week we lost to crystal palace and southampton where arsenal won every game fro mthen on until the end of the season.

Aye but in many ways when we beat Arsenal that year could mark the point where we seemed to be found out and ran completely out of steam as a team, or we just bottled it

by the time of the Anfield derby we will have a hugely clearer idea about if we have a chance etc, heading into that game with something on the line will actually tell us a huge amount about how far Koeman has got them away from the way we typically have been in those types of pressure games as well

 

[Carlito]

certainly good enough to challenge for it though?

one of the best defensive records in the prem, the prems top scorer and a lot of good players in a good run of form

Oh yeah, I'm sure the players are eyeing it up.

 

[johnnydawg68]

Why not?

Exactly.

 

[4737carlin]

For me the stumpling block is we have to win at both Anfield and Old Trafford, rare we win at either, for me this is the problem, 2 six point games, lose either and you can rule is out catching that side, win them both and its seriously on providing we go unbeaten in the next few games, the next 3 homes games is 9 points minimum

 

[Toffee-nerd]

For me the stumpling block is we have to win at both Anfield and Old Trafford, rare we win at either, for me this is the problem, 2 six point games, lose either and you can rule is out catching that side, win them both and its seriously on providing we go unbeaten in the next few games, the next 3 homes games is 9 points minimum

Not really as long as we don't lose and we beat the teams below us we would be in with a chance. Rs lost to hull and Swansea, ars lost to watford and man Utd drew with hull at home. That's all within the last four weeks. Obviously if we want to finish above them beating them would be the ideal scenario but as long as we don't lose any of those games with teams above us and we win the rest we would be in with a really good shout of fourth. I do think out of ars, rs, spurs and Utd away we are well overdue some good results so who knows. At least it gives us something to aim for for the time being as the season looked petered out after the cup exits.

 

[4737carlin]

Next 5 games.

For United they also have 4 none PL games between Watford and Bournemouth, after these 5 games we will hae a game in hand on them (because of the league cup final) and then we go there. Its also safe to say we might have better goal diff by then, right now they are only 2 better then us but also 5 points ahead

Man Utd - Watford
Man Utd - Bournemouth
Southampton - Man Utd
Middlesbrough - Man Utd
Man Utd - W Brom

Liverpool way better GD and 6 points ahead but i dont see much coming from these games 7 at most

Liverpool - Tottenham
Leicester City - Liverpool
Liverpool - Arsenal
Liverpool - Burnley
Manchester City - Liverpool

us
Middlesbrough - Everton
Everton - Sunderland
Tottenham - Everton
Everton - W Brom
Everton - Hull City

 

[carolinablue232]

Next 5 games.

For United they also have 4 none PL games between Watford and Bournemouth, after these 5 games we will hae a game in hand on them (because of the league cup final) and then we go there. Its also safe to say we might have better goal diff by then, right now they are only 2 better then us but also 5 points ahead

Man Utd - Watford
Man Utd - Bournemouth
Southampton - Man Utd
Middlesbrough - Man Utd
Man Utd - W Brom

Liverpool way better GD and 6 points ahead but i dont see much coming from these games 7 at most

Liverpool - Tottenham
Leicester City - Liverpool
Liverpool - Arsenal
Liverpool - Burnley
Manchester City - Liverpool

us
Middlesbrough - Everton
Everton - Sunderland
Tottenham - Everton
Everton - W Brom
Everton - Hull City

Fun part is after those 5, our next two are Liverpool and United away. Could be all to play for in those 2 games.

 

[kithnou]

Next 5 games.

For United they also have 4 none PL games between Watford and Bournemouth, after these 5 games we will hae a game in hand on them (because of the league cup final) and then we go there. Its also safe to say we might have better goal diff by then, right now they are only 2 better then us but also 5 points ahead

Man Utd - Watford
Man Utd - Bournemouth
Southampton - Man Utd
Middlesbrough - Man Utd
Man Utd - W Brom

Liverpool way better GD and 6 points ahead but i dont see much coming from these games 7 at most

Liverpool - Tottenham
Leicester City - Liverpool
Liverpool - Arsenal
Liverpool - Burnley
Manchester City - Liverpool

us
Middlesbrough - Everton
Everton - Sunderland
Tottenham - Everton
Everton - W Brom
Everton - Hull City

Man Utd will be top 3 comfortably after those 5. Liverpool are our target.

 

[PeregrineT]

I think the most difficult part isnt that we dont have the form, its that we dont have the time. If every other team kept their current season pace, we would need 74 points for 4th. That would mean we need 34 points from 14 games. That would equal 11 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses.