Villa had nothing to do with typical City, Arsenal and United will both drop points in games they are expected to win just as we will in the future. Everybody has Arsenal beating Norwich away but they have changed how they set up in the last 2 games and look a lot harder to break down. Just as Liverpool lost at home to Palace this week.Let's be honest we should be five points clear at the moment.
Villa was a huge mess up - not quite Typical City - but up there.
Similarly West Ham - I still don't know how we didn't batter them let alone lose.
If City are second this year I hope Spurs win it but I don't think they can. Arsenal certaintly have the easier fixtures but strange things happen in football. However there is one factor that is nearly always crucial to sucess in this league. Taking all 3 points at home in all games. We only dropped 2 points all season winning under Boby Manc and not much more a couple of years back. The Rags under red nose and Chelski have built success upon becoming almost unbeatable at home. With this in mind we really need to win those four home games and see what we can get on the road. The game against the gooners could be crucial if a win were to open up a six or seven point gap either way. On reflection if we are no more than 3 points behind after Watford on Jan 2nd. I would feel confident. The fixture list for us in Jan/Feb is reasonable and with a bit of luck with injuries we might be able to kick on during this period which in recent years has tended to be a fairly bad time for us.Keep the faithI'm getting a lot of "neutrals" around me saying they hope Arsenal win it this year, mostly citing the "attractive football" and lack of big spending to get there.
It was just the same 2 years ago with loads of "Liverpool Fans" coming out of the closet. Wonder if those supporting the Arse now were doing so 12 years ago when literally they were never losing.
Makes yesterday's shocker even worse
Agreed. Can't afford to be blowing points like that against duffers.
In 11/12 we dropped points against Fulham, West Brom, Sunderland (twice), Stoke and Swansea. In 13/14 we dropped points against Cardiff, Stoke, Villa, Sunderland (twice) and Norwich. You can totally afford to blow points like that against duffers and still win the league, teams do it every season.
Yea you're right. It wasn't meant to be taken to literally to be honest - probably every team that's ever won the league has dropped points against lowly opposition at some point on the way to winning it, but it puts pressure on the trickier games coming up. Guess we'll find out at the end of the season if the 2 points we dropped at villa will have been costly to us. I think we should still be fine with a bit of luck and if the team play close enough to their potential
Just having a look online at the fixtures for ourselves, Arsenal and the rags between now and January the 2nd.
Arsenal's games on paper look the easiest, with us having it slightly harder than the rags in my opinion.
Realistically, how do we see the 3 clubs comparing over this time period? Personally, I think being within touching distance of Arsenal come January 3rd would be absolutely ideal given the fixture list.
Anyone else see different?
City:
Liverpool - H
Southampton - H
Stoke - A
Swansea - H
Arsenal - A
Sunderland - H
Leicester - A
Watford - A
Arsenal:
West Brom - A
Norwich - A
Sunderland - H
Villa - A
City - H
Southampton - A
Bournemouth - H
Newcastle - H
Rags:
Watford - A
Leicester - A
West Ham - H
Bournemouth - A
Norwich - H
Stoke - A
Chelsea - H
Swansea - H
Just having a look online at the fixtures for ourselves, Arsenal and the rags between now and January the 2nd.
Arsenal's games on paper look the easiest, with us having it slightly harder than the rags in my opinion.
Realistically, how do we see the 3 clubs comparing over this time period? Personally, I think being within touching distance of Arsenal come January 3rd would be absolutely ideal given the fixture list.
Anyone else see different?
City:
Liverpool - H
Southampton - H
Stoke - A
Swansea - H
Arsenal - A
Sunderland - H
Leicester - A
Watford - A
Arsenal:
West Brom - A
Norwich - A
Sunderland - H
Villa - A
City - H
Southampton - A
Bournemouth - H
Newcastle - H
Rags:
Watford - A
Leicester - A
West Ham - H
Bournemouth - A
Norwich - H
Stoke - A
Chelsea - H
Swansea - H