We’ll win all of them. (I hope)
Talking about other teams stats and data, people are forgetting how we are 11 points clear and how we dominate almost every footballing metric, this is for a reason.
Yeah we’ve lost to Stoke, QPR, Rotherham but having half of your squad out injured or coming back from injury had a huge impact on what return we got. Reading got smashed, Hull were beaten in second gear, and Swansea was the typical poor performance that we always seem to fish out there, totally different playing the ball across the back at bramall lane take last year as a reference.
I’ll say it again, we’re double digits clear of 3rd before the new year, and we’ve done that with one of the biggest injury lists in recent history. Besides I’d rather have those fixtures in comparison to what Burnley have coming up…
Swansea
Coventry
West Brom
Millwall
Norwich
Preston
Watford
Luton
I am a bit more bullish like you.
I’d even go insofar as suggesting the chasing pack will not get beyond the 70s.
It’s all so tight that the chasing pack could be classed as 10 or 11 clubs but in all likelihood you’re considering Blackburn, Watford, Norwich, Sunderland, Boro and West Brom. That’s not discounting Luton, Preston, QPR, Millwall or Coventry either but I doubt they have the resources to ‘kick on’ significantly towards closing such a sizeable gap. If anything I can see Coventry, a few people’s Dark Horse tips, being weaker at the end of the window - O’Hare is out for the season and Gyokeres will be seen as a saviour for many a struggling PL team. Can they resist?
Blackburn are so hit and miss. It’s not just a question of turning draws into wins, they’ve had no draws, it’s a far bigger ask turning reverses into positive results. I just don’t see anything happening to change that trend.
Watford, minus Joao Pedro now for 6-8 weeks are more likely to go through a period of worse form than better form in the near future especially when you look at the thrashing at middling Swansea and the impact that may have on morale. Plus maybe finally, post World Cup, someone does put Sarr out of his misery.
Norwich also fell further behind and there is insecurity at some of the potential management options available such as Bruce. Just don’t see them getting their act together. Their transfer policy seems to have finally unravelled and they are not a club who solves problems through splashing the cash.
Sunderland is an interesting one. They have put together a play off run despite being deprived of Stewart and Simms for lengthy periods. They have a wealthy owner too, have Diallo hitting some form, so if they need a nudge to help them remain there, you can imagine he would provide funding. Do they have the all-round depth though? Not easy to upgrade a whole squad.
West Brom are on an excellent run with Corberon and that run of 7 wins is impressive but nonetheless a little misleading. Aside from Sunderland who were without Stewart, those wins come against exclusively bottom half teams. It’s a good run but they are favourable fixtures.
Boro will be delighted with Carrick’s impact. We are, ourselves, aware of Akporn’s danger when on form. I’m not sure they have the depth to go on an absolute stellar run that would catapult them up to top two reckoning and they may not have additional gears to slide into in terms of capability. Doubt they will spend much being a non-parachute team.
Looking at all of these teams, they only threaten if the top two collapse. Burnley continuing to win is probably a good thing in a sense. It removes complacency and keeps a pacesetter there to drive us on. Looking at the fixtures, Hecky is right to push the team to keep the hammer down. Before we enter a spate of fixtures against play offs teams at the end of Feb and in March, there are some games where we would be clear favourites. Do the job and the lead by the start of March could be unassailable.
Long thread but that’s all my thoughts on our rivals and us in one shot!
