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Have just had a look at the top 8's next 6 games. There is no reason why we shouldn't win all 6 of our games, although my estimate would be about 13/14 points.

 

West Ham

21/02 Blackpool (a), 25/02 Palace (h), 04/03 Cardiff (a), 07/03 Watford (h), 10/03 Doncaster (h), 17/03 Leeds (a)

 

SAINTS

18/02 Derby (h), 25/02 Watford (a), 03/03 Leeds (a), 06/03 Ipswich (h), 10/03 Barnsley (h), 17/03 Millwall (a)

 

Cardiff

18/02 Ipswich (a), 04/03 West Ham (h), 06/03 Brighton (a), 10/03 Bristol City (a), 13/03 Hull (h), 18/03 Burnley (h)

 

Blackpool

21/02 West Ham (h), 25/02 Bristol City (a), 02/03 Hull (h), 06/03 Derby (a), 10/03 Peterborough (a), 17/03 Brighton (h)

 

Brum

21/02 Barnsley (a), 25/02 Nottm Forest (h), 03/03 Derby (h), 06/03 Burnley (a), 10/03 Coventry (a), 13/03 Leicester (a)

 

Reading

17/02 Burnley (h), 25/02 M'boro (a), 03/03 Millwall (a), 06/03 Portsmouth (h), 10/03 Leicester (h), 13/03 Doncaster (a)

 

Hull

22/02 Brighton (h), 02/03 Blackpool (a), 06/03 Leeds (h), 10/03 Ipswich (h), 13/03 Cardiff (a), 17/03 Palace (a)

 

Middlesbrough

21/02 Millwall (a), 25/02 Reading (h), 03/03 Portsmouth (a), 06/03 Barnsley (h), 11/03 Leeds (h), 17/03 Birmingham (a)

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Jesus - how come EVERY team has such an easy next 6 games, save for the occasional game against each other. Surely that's mathematically impossible?

 

I'd say our run is just about easiest but every team there will be looking to pick up at least 12 points from the next 6.

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Jesus - how come EVERY team has such an easy next 6 games, save for the occasional game against each other. Surely that's mathematically impossible?

 

I'd say our run is just about easiest but every team there will be looking to pick up at least 12 points from the next 6.

 

There are no easy games...

 

HTH

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There are no easy games...

 

HTH

 

Yes there are. That is a tired cliche, along with "we have nobody to fear but ourselves". Bull****. I worry about Birmingham going on a 12 game winning streak, I don't worry about Saints suddenly forgetting how to play football.

 

Easy is clearly a relative term, nobody's expecting those teams to roll over, but those games above are the games you need to be winning the majority of if you have Premier League aspirations. Games against your West Hams, Cardiffs, Boros, Brum, and even Leicester on their day, are going to give you a much tougher game - their league position tells you they are a more difficult team beat as fewer others have done so.

 

Those runs are easy.

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Have just had a look at the top 8's next 6 games. There is no reason why we shouldn't win all 6 of our games, although my estimate would be about 13/14 points.

 

West Ham

21/02 Blackpool (a), 25/02 Palace (h), 04/03 Cardiff (a), 07/03 Watford (h), 10/03 Doncaster (h), 17/03 Leeds (a)

 

SAINTS

18/02 Derby (h), 25/02 Watford (a), 03/03 Leeds (a), 06/03 Ipswich (h), 10/03 Barnsley (h), 17/03 Millwall (a)

 

Cardiff

18/02 Ipswich (a), 04/03 West Ham (h), 06/03 Brighton (a), 10/03 Bristol City (a), 13/03 Hull (h), 18/03 Burnley (h)

 

Blackpool

21/02 West Ham (h), 25/02 Bristol City (a), 02/03 Hull (h), 06/03 Derby (a), 10/03 Peterborough (a), 17/03 Brighton (h)

 

Brum

21/02 Barnsley (a), 25/02 Nottm Forest (h), 03/03 Derby (h), 06/03 Burnley (a), 10/03 Coventry (a), 13/03 Leicester (a)

 

Reading

17/02 Burnley (h), 25/02 M'boro (a), 03/03 Millwall (a), 06/03 Portsmouth (h), 10/03 Leicester (h), 13/03 Doncaster (a)

 

Hull

22/02 Brighton (h), 02/03 Blackpool (a), 06/03 Leeds (h), 10/03 Ipswich (h), 13/03 Cardiff (a), 17/03 Palace (a)

 

Middlesbrough

21/02 Millwall (a), 25/02 Reading (h), 03/03 Portsmouth (a), 06/03 Barnsley (h), 11/03 Leeds (h), 17/03 Birmingham (a)

Won't West Ham have Peterborough away in that period as well. Fair chance of 3 points I reckon.
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Yes there are. That is a tired cliche, along with "we have nobody to fear but ourselves". Bull****. I worry about Birmingham going on a 12 game winning streak, I don't worry about Saints suddenly forgetting how to play football.

 

Easy is clearly a relative term, nobody's expecting those teams to roll over, but those games above are the games you need to be winning the majority of if you have Premier League aspirations. Games against your West Hams, Cardiffs, Boros, Brum, and even Leicester on their day, are going to give you a much tougher game - their league position tells you they are a more difficult team beat as fewer others have done so.

 

Those runs are easy.

 

....as those 2 cracking wins against Bristol City will attest...oh

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I think that our biggest rivals for automatic is Blackpool. They have a good squad and can keep going. They also seem to have had their bad spell whereas Cardiff haven't yet and have smaller squad. I think Birmingham just don't quite have it this year although will have some real purple spells when confidence is high (hope I dont have to eat my words there.

 

Key for me is also who can keep squad fit and free of suspension, we can beat everyone with fully fit and available squad.

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Jesus - how come EVERY team has such an easy next 6 games, save for the occasional game against each other. Surely that's mathematically impossible?

 

I'd say our run is just about easiest but every team there will be looking to pick up at least 12 points from the next 6.

 

Are you serious???? 6 games and all the other teams -except Brum- are playing each other twice - from our perspective, that's as good as it gets; while teams like Brighton (3rd), Burnley (6th) and Ipswich (8th) are up there in the form table and will be no pushovers.

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....as those 2 cracking wins against Bristol City will attest...oh

 

Oh yeah, you're right. Cuz I clearly said that the other teams will roll over and we will win every one of those games, home and away. facepalm.gif

 

Easy is clearly a relative term, nobody's expecting those teams to roll over, but those games above are the games you need to be winning the majority of if you have Premier League aspirations.

 

Fact is if you are prepared to say there are difficult games / runs, then you have to accept there are easy ones too. Everyone knows what that means - it doesn't mean a 10-0 drubbing every match. Otherwise you're saying that every team is just as good as each other which you'd have to be stupid to do...or at best lazy and an odd thing to post on a thread about easy vs difficult runs.

 

 

Just to back up what I am saying, as if number of points gained in the league isn't self-evident already:

 

 

Saints record v teams in top half of the table (average points per game): 1.58 (highest in the division)

http://stats.football365.com/dom/ENG/D1/vtophalf.html

Saints record v teams in bottom half of the table (avg pts per game): 2.07

http://stats.football365.com/dom/ENG/D1/vbothalf.html

 

 

Interesting stat to come out of those tables are Saints have only played 14 of their 31 games against teams currently in the bottom half - less than any of our closest rivals - confirming we do have an easy (yes, it's relative) run-in.

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Are you serious???? 6 games and all the other teams -except Brum- are playing each other twice - from our perspective, that's as good as it gets; while teams like Brighton (3rd), Burnley (6th) and Ipswich (8th) are up there in the form table and will be no pushovers.

 

I guess you're right, but with our recent run I was looking for something more along the lines of:

 

Leicester (a), Cardiff (h), Birmingham (a), Burnley (h), West Ham (a)

 

...but maybe that was a freak in itself.

 

 

The fact of the top 8 no team is playing one of the top teams more than twice, and all seem to have a sprinkling of the much weaker teams in between, really surprised me. Also, I still don't really see Hull and Reading as quite of the same calibre as the other teams in the list. I think if Boro had been 2 places higher they wouldn't have been included. Reading have been on a great run, but have beaten the weaker sides and then lost to the other teams listed above.

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