last 6 games of the season.

[dsmoove]

Sunderland A
Arsenal H
Chelsea H
Man U A
Bolton H
Burnley A

thats one horrific stretch of fixtures. lets see..thats 2 derbys, one game with a team that contains all our jaded rejects, two games with teams that owns us, and finally, a team probably fighting relegation. If we dont have Europe wrapped up by April, we are in trouble.

 

[Green Valley]

10-12 points imo

 

[Bill_Oddie]

I'd struggle to see more than 7 points from those. It really is a stinker of a run-in.

However, if we are in the mix, confidence should be high and those teams may be competing with us for a spot in the top 4/6 but they will likely also still be in the CL mix. Plus, they'll have played lots more games and their players will be more strained than ours, you'd hope.

Those are all the sort of games you lose unless your middle is strong. Hence Palacios might need a partner more like himself. Sandro?

 

[tony_parkes]

Very tough run in, exactly why it's important to get points on the board now.

 

[Legacy]

Get 10 points from them, including not losing to Arsenal, and I'd consider that a pretty damn good finish, especially as the three games prior to that are all games we should win. Which would work out to 19 points out of a possible 27.

 

[mil1lion]

No tougher than our first 6 games. And we got 12 points from those. Too early to be thinking about that anyway.

 

[double0]

If we want to be the best we must beat the best.

 

[Bill_Oddie]

Roy Castle? Is that you?

 

[Dibby]

I can't see any more than 6 points from those to be honest.

 

[Leachie]

It's impossible to look so far ahead at those games. So many factors could change between now and then. Loss/increase in form, injuries, January transfer window, Redknapp in jail, league position, who is/isn't in a cup.

Let's worry about Stoke for now, eh?

 

[worcestersauce]

Two or perhaps three of those teams will be the ones we are competing with for the title therefore it will be in our own hands to become champions and that is a nice position to be in.

Mind you to get there we need to beat Stoke as Leachey says.

 

[stemark44]

Its definitely a bit early to be looking so far ahead but thats a really bad run in.
Lets hope Harry can bring in some reinforcements in January to keep us in the hunt.

 

[Kendall]

Stinker, but look at it this way...we have a huge chunk of the season where we can gain momentum and a winning mentality but beating those teams below and around us.

By the time we get to this run in we could have many points behind us and be flying high.

 

[Adam]

You could also look at it and say that between games 11-32, we only have to play one of the Sky 4 once, so hopefully we should be able to get enough points up until then to make the last few games not crucial for European qualification

 

[WhiteStripe]

I like that run in. It may just mean that we have our top 4 qualification in our own hands by beating teams around us.

If we can use it to our advantage and get into a good position prior to that run, the I think we have a better chance than if the situation was reversed.

Going on last season, we would get...

Sunderland A - 1-1 (1 point)
Arsenal H 0-0 (1 point)
Chelsea H 1-0 (3 points)
Man U A 1-2 (0 points)
Bolton H 2-0 (3 points)
Burnley A 2-1 (3 points taken from Hull away)

 

[defoe18]

We can beat Chelsea and Arse at home if we up our game

 

[riversmonkey]

There are a lot of variables though for instance Man Utd might have the league wrapped up by then and might play fringe players, or they might be focussed on the Champions League. Sunderland might have a slump after they coast past the 40 point mark, like Steve Bruce's former club Wigan last year.

 

[markiespurs]

It's way too early too be looking at our last six games.

It is a tough run in though.Most of those teams though will be thinking: Shit, we've got to play Spurs in one of our last six games.

 

[ExpatFan]

You could also look at it and say that between games 11-32, we only have to play one of the Sky 4 once, so hopefully we should be able to get enough points up until then to make the last few games not crucial for European qualification

Good point. So after Game 11 (against Woolwich), then we only have one match out of 22 against the Sky4. That's at Anfield and the way the Scousers are going...!
I've thought for a while now that if we can enter 2010 with 40 points already on the board, then a CL spot is definitey on.

 

[bubble07]

we should get 9 points from that lot