Saint_Tony

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

Nor can I, even with the level of form we are showing now I think 7th is the very highest we can achieve and that's a very tall order. I can imagine Cortese has targetted top 6 this season, and anything less than tenth will be unacceptable, even more so given our start. Realistically there's more chance of MP getting sacked than leaving to go to a bigger club

I think we'd need to finish top 6 this season for anyone better than ourselves to make an approach for him.

Clyne made Garth Crooks' (yes I know, terrible pundit) team of the week, in which he has recommended him for an England call up

Think we will scrape a 2-1. 3 very winnable games as mentioned. Will we win all 3? Highly unlikely. I would be happy enough with 5 points from these fixtures

Can't see Clyne getting picked. Richards is back in the frame at City, have always rated him and can see him getting back in the England squad. Shaw is just unfortunate in that we have 2 quality left backs already. Baines is absolute class, such a shame Roy doesn't have a similar selection dilemma in other positions. Lallana has a chance of being called up, but will really have to take his chance in the same way Townsend has. Hopefully Cleverley will disappear from Hodgson's plans, he has failed miserably on the international stage. We seem to have a lot of central midfielders so JWP has a limited chance too. Hopefully with our rise up the table, other fans and the media will see what a fantastic group of English players we have. Right now, they are performing better than Jones, Smalling, Cleverley etc as we as playing regularly. Roy won't be able to ignore them if we keep up this sort of forn though

Are we all going to moan about MOTD on the last day of the season when we get a 'lucky' one nil win against United, scoring our 'only' chance despite 20 shots on goal,to pip them for fourth place?

No Rio or Vidic for United. I mentioned playing J Rod, but looking at United's defence maybe Lambert would have been the right option, we shall see ...

Can't see us getting anything today, think the luck will be with United, can see Rooney getting a couple and a Van Persie pen. Think we should start J Rod, need some pace up top as Rio was completely shown up against West Brom, he's well past it, Vidic has been unconvincing this season as well.

Because it's not realistic, our squad isn't at the level of the 'big 6' yet, it's as simple as that. Our start has been very positive but we can't expect to keep it up. We're a work in progress. It's perfectly fine to talk about Champions League and targets for the season, but it's not going to happen overnight and certainly not this season. And we don't 'have to ship goals' but it's going to happen at some point and in my opinion it'll be next weekend.

For me it's the cost. Went to the West Ham game, £43.50 ticket and £18 on the train. Add in a few beers and food and you're looking at £100+. The whole matchday experience has essentially become a luxury item. I can't see myself going to more than another 2 games this season. Sadly, the pub and online streaming are more financially viable options

Yes, we have an undeniably excellent defensive record, but Swansea had a lot of chances on Sunday and on another day it could easily have been a different scoreline. I'd love nothing more than another 2 0 victory, but this sort of form won't last forever, and we need to accept that at the season goes on.

Quite clearly due a defeat and United will pick up soon, 4-1(Rooney x2, Nani, Fellaini, Rodriguez) I'm afraid. No shame in losing to them despite their current league position. Fulham the week after is far more important, just worried that they might have a new manager in place by then

Nothing wrong with dreaming, but dreams rarely come true! Think we need to calm down the threads on 4th place/champions league, provides too much ammo when we finish 11th for Turkish et. al to proclaim that the entire forum said we'd finish 4th. It's a natural reaction to get excited, we're football fans so why shouldn't we! Next few games look a lot tougher, there's no such thing as an easy start, and we certainly didn't pick up as many points from the same fixtures last year ( lost at West Brom, Liverpool and home to Sunderland). I can see maybe 6 or 7 points from the next 6 games, but to go into Christmas with 20 + points will be good progress. I'd imagine the aim of the club now might be 60 points. Is it achievable? Still too early to say

Well I hope to be proved wrong, my predictions have generally been correct so far this season. I think this game is the one that will be the biggest indicator so far as to what we can achieve this season.

Don't think we're capable of winning this unfortunately, we're not at the same level as Swansea are yet. Saints 1-2 Swansea, Bony, De Guzman and a Lambert penalty for us. No disgrace losing to them in my opinion