14 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

I think we just need to avoid losing those games. 

If we beat either of them then it's a bonus but the way I am looking at it is, if we drew both of those games it's 2 point both sides have failed to gain on us rather than 2 points dropped. 

Sure it might narrow our lead at the top but I think it would still leave us in a very strong position, especially if we continued to beat side outside of the top 6 so convincingly. 

It would be a decent return but that does leave the door open for Spuds to gain some ground which would make a nervous time of it.

No question, from this position not winning the league would be a massive disappointment, we are on course to break our 2005 points record ffs not saying we will but that's just what a good position we have put ourselves in. After 19 games, 4th place had 39 points. If that kind of symmetry is replicated in the second half of the season we need 25 more points to secure top 4 in 17 games, that would be marginally better than our form from last season from now on, yet that will be enough, will we be happy with that? Last season 67 points was enough for 4th, if that was the case again (don't think it will be) we can have a meltdown like Jose's last few months and still get top four, in other words it should be a formality from here.

Another point Jose and Pep have been caught with their pants down this season in Manchester, if similar happened with Conte ofcourse i'd accept top four and run but he hasn't been, unlike those two he fixed the leak pretty quick, his work has got us seven points clear at the top of the league and if we beat Hull and City get something against Spurs a draw at Anfield will mean we are minimum six points infront after that night. Jose and Pep are likely to fix the problems in the summer and make a serious assault at the summit along with us (can't imagine Conte wanting to do anything other than retain the league should we win it, he won't allow the complacency that riddled our last two you could argue three title defenses). With a seven point advantage and the league becoming as competitive as ever, we need to cash in on that.

In other words, we have to win the league now, lets not go all Arsenal and hide behind top four we are better than that.

Also i will put this another way, if we were seven points behind a team managed by Antonio Conte (a man who's league record is immaculate) would you give us a hope in hell of catching said team?

I can understand not wanting to get overconfident/cocky that's just basic principle but reading stuff with people convinced we are going to get caught is just ridiculous.

It would be a disappointment but it is way too early for this title-talk. We were 8 points behind City. Since then we have gained 18 points more than them. This happened in course of something like 13 games.

It looks good on our part but it is too early.

Loads of reasons to be confident...

• 7 point lead
• fully fit squad
• leagues top scorer 
• 4 from 6 played against top 4
• 49 from 51 points outside the top 4

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Chelsbear said:

I doubt the most optimistic supporter contemplated winning the league this season after last.

I certainly didn't see or hear anyone mention it before August lol.

Kinda reminds me of the Moses brigade that "always knew he'd make it here". Yeah right 

6 minutes ago, Bobbywoodhogan said:

Kinda reminds me of the Moses brigade that "always knew he'd make it here". Yeah right 

Tbf, given Antonio's recovery job at Juve i can see why some people thought/hoped he could have replicated that here.

The Premier League is at its peak in terms of overall competitiveness and rivalry.

It's got to that stage where I will be gutted if anyone but Chelsea  win it. I can just about take Man City if i'm honest but I couldn't bear seeing the other 4 winning it, so for that reason, top 4 means F all to me. I believe in this team, always have and this club is now a size where we should compete every year.

I would just like to say again, thank you Leicester City for giving me one of the greatest neutral football experiences and stopping any of our main rivals winning the league whilst we were rubbish.

Not an hour goes by where I'm not daydreaming of us winning the league. For me, winning the title this season will feel more special that our first one in 2005 due to the adversity we have faced to be where we are.

I also think the Hull game is crucial. With a win it's one less game the rivals have to gain points. Simple I know.

liverpool have been described as 70% effort and 30% tactical. If we go there and get the tactics right, I'm confident we can pick up points.

Mourinho had his moments at Anfield. Let's do it again.

We need a win at Anfield like in 2014, grind it out and be very difficult to beat and at the very least, take a draw.

I think Old Trafford away will be tougher than Anfield as Jose will want to right the drubbing we handed out back in October and Utd will be still fighting for a top 4 place at that stage.

Just enjoying the season.If we win it,great.I like the fact that we are back after last season.

I never look any further ahead than the next game. In this league, you can be in comfortable position one week, then the next week things can look the opposite. This league is too unpredictable.

Edited January 18, 20179 yr by Scott Harris

Well, to answer this question, one must first ask themselves:
 

1) How many points will we most likely obtain? 90 or higher wouldn't be a surprise. ATM we are on course for around 95.

2) How many points will our rivals most likely obtain? The Top 6 will most likely obtain 75-85 points each, possibly a little higher.

3) Will our rivals be affected by fixture pileups more than, or as much as us? All of them except Liverpool have European commitments later in the season. Liverpool still have the League Cup to contend with.

4) How strong is our squad relative to theirs? Our squad depth could be better, but our first XI is IMO the best in the division. The lack of squad depth is mitigated somewhat by the lack of games.

5) What is our current advantage on the table? 7 points - a reasonable lead at any stage of the season.

6) Is our manager a proven winner, or does he tend to fall short? Definitely the former.

7) Where do we still have to play? Anfield, Old Trafford and Goodison Park will each be tricky. 

8) Are we good at killing off weaker teams (crucial to any league victory)? Almost perfect as things stand.

Overall, I would say we are certainly favourites to win the title ATM based on the above factors, but there remains a possibility that we could let things slip. We must not be complacent. 

Edited January 18, 20179 yr by DaRick

I'm actually feeling less sceptical with each passing game while this points gap holds.  One could even look at the Spurs defeat and say we got off lightly that weekend.  We lost where a draw would have been a decent result.  But Liverpool and Arsenal both drew at two venues they would have expected to win at.  In the long run, those were dropped points that could be much more damaging than our result.  We have some tough games to come but then so do our title rivals.  But we have been traditionally strong front runners in title races.  As Mourinho said a decade ago, the pressure is actually more on those chasing as they cannot barely afford to drop any more points but one or two will definitely do so when they meet each other.   Starting this weekend,  Man City vs Spurs.   Keep doing what we're doing and those games will start running out for our rivals.

Big 3 weeks coming up. If we can take 7 points out of the next 3, and hopefully city take something off Tottenham.

Liverpool have a tough run starting with us, and i think we can put their challenge to bed in that period. 

Really just got to grind the wins out now. 

This will be our greatest prem title win imo, when you take into account the competition, and what happened last season.

It's hard to be confident after seeing that these players can go on a bad run, but we have a coach and players that know how to get over the line, and we have a fantastic advantage at this point of the season. 

Let's just hope it ends with a 6th league title.

Just win another 12 games on a row, and we have nothing to worry about. In all seriousness, just take it 1 game like a time as we have been doing. There's no point getting all geared up for Liverpool if we cant get 3 points against Hull this weekend. Playing for a draw is also dangerous, you can't go half-hearted when playing against one of the top teams in the league. I had the feeling we went to the Spurs game playing not to lose, let them have the ascendency, didn't work out in the end. We shouldn't fear Liverpool or Arsenal (especially), we should go out aiming for the win. Conte took us this far by playing positive football, it's not the time to play for the draw to protect our lead.

 

 

8 hours ago, Stim said:

I'm always skeptical until its a mathematical certainty

I agree. We could be 8 points up with 3 matches to play and I still wouldn't start celebrating

I'm optimistic because our rivals have drawn so many games against each other. Even if we lose against Arsenal, Liverpool, United, and City I still think there's a good chance we'll be up there if we pick up 3 points against the rest.

Edited January 18, 20179 yr by the special one

9 hours ago, luckywerthers said:

another good question is if not us who? liverpool or spurs? can not see either of them going the distance,  manure with a late run? 

seriously, unless it's us winning it, i couldn't bare to see any other club win the league. it doesn't matter whether it's arsenal, spurs, pool, city or utd, losing the title to any of those would feel sh*t. i don't support those clubs, and i have no affiliation to those, so it would be equally awful. i never understand fans (not aimed at you personally lucky) who say "who would you rather win it?" because i would rather us, not them lol

Edited January 18, 20179 yr by enigma

liverpool away

utd away

everton away 

stoke away 

west brom away

i think those will be the toughest. i actually feel confident we can beat arsenal at home looking at how they've been playing recently, but liverpool and utd are the obvious hard away games, but everton always give us a game at their place; pulis sides always tough to break down and stoke can be one of those sides where if they turn up they can cause us trouble as we saw against them at home. 

Edited January 18, 20179 yr by enigma

13 minutes ago, enigma said:

seriously, unless it's us winning it, i couldn't bare to see any other club win the league. it doesn't matter whether it's arsenal, spurs, pool, city or utd, losing the title to any of those would feel sh*t. i don't support those clubs, and i have no affiliation to those, so it would be equally awful. i never understand fans (not aimed at you personally lucky) who say "who would you rather win it?" because i would rather us, not them lol

I couldn't stick Spuds or Liverpool winning it, I wouldn't be able to look at the sports news for months. 

I'd take anyone else winning it over those two teams as I hate them with a fiery passion 

7 hours ago, enigma said:

seriously, unless it's us winning it, i couldn't bare to see any other club win the league. it doesn't matter whether it's arsenal, spurs, pool, city or utd, losing the title to any of those would feel sh*t. i don't support those clubs, and i have no affiliation to those, so it would be equally awful. i never understand fans (not aimed at you personally lucky) who say "who would you rather win it?" because i would rather us, not them lol

agreed, but my point really was that it is ours to throw away, if not us who else is good enough? united and city too far off, are  liverpool good enough? and spurs are renown bottlers 

On 19/1/2017 at 06:38, enigma said:

seriously, unless it's us winning it, i couldn't bare to see any other club win the league. it doesn't matter whether it's arsenal, spurs, pool, city or utd, losing the title to any of those would feel sh*t. i don't support those clubs, and i have no affiliation to those, so it would be equally awful. i never understand fans (not aimed at you personally lucky) who say "who would you rather win it?" because i would rather us, not them lol

it's not really about 'who would you rather win it if not us' kind of question, is it?

 

liverpool lost to swansea at home.. even if some people are not confident enough in us, surely they can't be more confident in other teams to be able to have a consistent run, can they?

City are 10 points behind, liverpool could be the same tomorrow, spurs could be later on, arsenal will always be arsenal and mu are 12 points behind already.. so the question 'if not us who else' is a pretty good one to knock some senses to those pessismist..

So Liverpool losing really pretty much rules them out now if we win tomorrow. Not a lot changes with 16 games left generally. 

until we lift that premier league....i`m not taking anything for granted.