Saint_Tony

It's still fun to suggest we are, I'm enjoying winding up all the United/Chelsea/City fans right now. Let's just enjoy it, it'll be nearly impossible to finish above 7th, 10th and above will be acceptable. We will certainly lose a few over the next couple of months so we just need to prepare ourselves for our drop down the table

Does anyone want the title this year? Looks like it'll be a record low tally to win it

Yeah both are nailed on 2-0 Lawro predictions. Let's be honest, we will lose a few games along the line this season and these are 2 of the more likely ones. I think we'll lose at Arsenal 2-0 and get a 1-1 draw at Chelsea

Probably not the best we've played this season as strange as it is to say. Hull certainly improved 2nd half without really threatening though. MP played the subs spot on again. Another fantastic result though, Lallana was phenomenal, hopefully Roy will start him against Chile. Unbelievable how he worked the opportunity for himself

Will this be streamed anywhere?

Looks like a 1-1 draw, Hull are a solid team and will be more of a test for us than Fulham and Palace were.

When, exactly, are we meant to give players like Davis, Hooiveld etc. a run out during the season, apart from injury? Surely this competition is the best opportunity to give them game time? It's a squad game, and you can't just leave them on the sidelines all season. All we've done is what half the other teams in this competition have, and this season a lot of Championship sides have also put out a 'weakened' team. Anyway, this thread has become very tedious, just the usual people trying to put down everyone's opinions. We lost. We're out the cup.It's not the biggest disaster ever. Now let's all get behind the team and hope we take 3 points at the weekend

I fully expected us to lose. Usually I watch the game or check scores every 10 seconds, didn't bother tonight. Of course it's disappointing but as soon as the line ups came out it was clear we'd struggle for a result. Made a nice bit of profit on it at least. This wasn't a massive game, imo Hull on Saturday is. Plus it's clear Chelsea's 'reserves' are far superior, if we'd have got an easier draw maybe the team selection would have been different. Let's just keep doing what we're doing and see how the season progresses, it's been amazing so far, and I can't believe how people are getting so upset over tonight

Got 21/10 on Sunderland, should be easy money

I predicted 10th at the start, I'll stick with it. The highest we could possibly finish is 7th imo, but that would take a monumental effort

Is this not an ideal opportunity for both Ramirez and Osvaldo to play together? Gives us a chance to see if it is indeed true that they are on a different wavelength to the rest of the team

Yeah Osvaldo is certainly going the same way, it's strange how he has had so many critics on here continuing to have moan about him when he hasn't even played, it's ridiculous. I'll agree now that Ramirez just hasn't worked out for us, I'm sure he'll go on to be a success at another team. As for Alpine wondering why we only scored twice against Fulham did you watch the game? It was won in the first half, and we just kept possession to kill off the game and it worked a treat, plus it allowed us to drop the tempo. Sure, we'd all like another 2 or 3 goals, but MP wanted to make sure the game was won and it worked out fine

Trying to mate, but, albeit only for a few hours, it would simply be too good to be true to see us that high

Bad feeling now. Things like Southampton fc going 2nd in the Premier League just don't happen. I'll have to stick with 2-1 Stoke

Lol another great joke Glasgow.This high praise for Stoke seems very odd, I've hardly even taken notice of them this season. Can remember them beating Palace and West Ham but not a lot else. Didn't they lose at home to Norwich? I think Lambert should start today with Osvaldo on the bench. Davis another good option to close out the game

This could be our toughest test yet. Sure, Stoke aren't the best side in the league, but look how the like of Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool have struggled to get a result in the last few years. If we're serious about finishing high up the table, then this is one we have to win. Sadly, I think it might end up 2-1 to Stoke

Might as well play our reserves next week. Even if we win we'll be no match for Chelsea 'reserves' (featuring a load of International players and the league's best player from last season)

You should try First Great Western. I've found cheaper tickets through their website several times than any on the trainline site.

Maybe it helps having players who have been with us through League One and the Championship. There didn't seem to be an issue with tiredness and fatigue when we had regular midweek games so there shouldn't be now. In the first half against Fulham the intensity was so high that the second half was no more than a keep ball training session, would be ideal if we could kill off a few more games early on

Quite handy that the draw for the next round is tonight,so we will know whether it's worth trying to win this one

Hopefully he doesn't play alongside Crouch, as that will be 2 goals guaranteed for Stoke, always happens when we face ex-players

If Lambert scores 10+ he will make the squad. Lallana and Clyne might get a chance but they will have to make the same impact Townsend did when given the chance, to make the World Cup squad. J Rod is a quality player who I rate highly, but still too inconsistent from game to game. There are already a lot of central midfielders ahead of JWP so he has next to no chance. Shaw has to contend with 2 class left backs, shame we don't have such an abudamce of quality in other positions!

Excellent stuff after a quiet first 10 minutes. We really do have an excellent group of English players in the side right now, some of the interplay has been superb. Fulham haven't turned up, they'll surely do more 2nd half but I'd be very disappointed if we conceded even one goal

Can't be, Lawro never goes above 3-0! I might be a bit conservative in my predictions, but it looks a much tougher set of fixtures and I fear we might go on a bad run of form.

Fulham 1-1 Stoke City 1-1 Hull City 2-1 W Arsenal 1-3 L Chelsea 0-4 L Aston Villa 2-2 Man City 1-2 L Newcastle 1-2 L 6 points