Of course every league game is important from here on, but the next two seem to have added importance.
West Brom...H
Man City.......A
West Bromwich Albion
I think the importance here is more than just winning.
We struggle against West Brom at home for one. Beating the 6+ sides at home will be vital if we have any chance, and this is usually one of our hardest ones.
For two, it was one of two games that finished us off last season (along with Chelsea) so there is unfinished business.2 wins against these sides would surely boost the players' confidence.
Thirdly, a win will take us 2nd, and we will stay there if Liverpool do not win at Old Trafford (unless City win by at least 7 at Everton)
Finally fourth, it cuts Chelsea's lead to 4pts. A bit of pressure for their trip to Leicester that evening.
Manchester City
This is a biggy. A win here would be a massive statement of intent, like Leicester's last season (and indeed ours, or Chelsea's this season). Depending on the Chelsea and City results the week before, this game could well be a make or break one for City.
The top six battles may be key this time round, and after this we will only have to play three of these fixtures - United and Arsenal at home, and just one away at Liverpool. A draw here after beating WBA may not be a terrible result
Ideally we would like a win though, and to be honest City are the side I would most like to play from the current top 6. I genuinely fancy us to beat them up there. They have some wonderful players, but I think our team as a unit is top drawer.
I would fancy our forwards, despite not being at their forwards level, to give their defence a harder time than our defence gets simply because our defence is much better. I think our wing/fullbacks are head and shoulders above, and our midfield is rock solid.
We could lose both of course and end up 6th, 13pts behind Chelsea which would not surprise me
The Next Two League Games
posted on 7/1/17
Yeh we can't expect to win every game but westbrom is certainly a must win and really if we want to show ambition as a title challenger then we must beat them. Man City away will be tough and a draw will be an excellent result still. Would take a win v brom and a draw v city any day of the week but we are certainly capable of beating city
posted on 7/1/17
The next 6 weeks will really shape the title challenge of all the top 6
posted on 7/1/17
comment by Don_tottenham (U3372)
posted 1 minute ago
Yeh we can't expect to win every game but westbrom is certainly a must win and really if we want to show ambition as a title challenger then we must beat them. Man City away will be tough and a draw will be an excellent result still. Would take a win v brom and a draw v city any day of the week but we are certainly capable of beating city
----------------------------------------------------------------------
What about a draw to wba & win at city?
posted on 7/1/17
comment by Hengy (U9129)
posted 43 seconds ago
comment by Don_tottenham (U3372)
posted 1 minute ago
Yeh we can't expect to win every game but westbrom is certainly a must win and really if we want to show ambition as a title challenger then we must beat them. Man City away will be tough and a draw will be an excellent result still. Would take a win v brom and a draw v city any day of the week but we are certainly capable of beating city
----------------------------------------------------------------------
What about a draw to wba & win at city?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
would give same points total, but i think it would point to the same mentality issues as previously.
need to beat west brom for the reasons stated in the article. they are becoming a bit of a bogey team, and as we are far far better than them, its not really acceptable.
posted on 7/1/17
What about a draw to wba & win at city?
------
I'd take that 100%. I'd take that over the other option of drawing v City and beating WBA
posted on 7/1/17
comment by Stop it and tidy up (U7303)
posted 1 minute ago
What about a draw to wba & win at city?
------
I'd take that 100%. I'd take that over the other option of drawing v City and beating WBA
----------------------------------------------------------------------
tbh, a draw home to west brom off the back of beating chelsea at home, is a poor result. especially as the whole 11 will probably get a rest this weekend
posted on 7/1/17
Chronic, I'm not disputing that. But the bigger picture of beating Man City in a potential "6 pointer" would benefit us far more IMO.
posted on 7/1/17
Have to beat West Brom quite simply. Need to follow up the win against Chelsea with another league win as we did when we beat City away last season before beating Swansea a fortnight later.
A draw at City is a decent result, a draw at home to West Brom is certainly not.
As for United vs Liverpool, would want either a draw or a Liverpool win. Sooner we can cut 6 down to 5 the better IMO.
posted on 7/1/17
Good article.
A minimum of 4 points from the next two games if we are going to realistically challenge for the title.
posted on 7/1/17
comment by Stop it and tidy up (U7303)
posted 1 hour, 42 minutes ago
Chronic, I'm not disputing that. But the bigger picture of beating Man City in a potential "6 pointer" would benefit us far more IMO.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
hard to disagree with this i suppose