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The Elephant in the room - Champions?

Tamesaint

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Tamesaint

Tamesaint

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Posted (edited)

I was just listening to 5 Live's commentary of the Wolves / Chelsea match. Wolves were awarded a penalty which was then overruled by VAR. According to the commentator this decision would have upset "the supporters of Liverpool and Tottenham."  It also upset me as Chelsea would go over us in the table if they got anything out of the match. My immediate thought was why didn't the commentator mention us along with Liverpool and Spurs as being upset at Chelsea's fortune? Is the idea of Saints contesting the League title so far fetched?

How far can we go this season? Is this one of those seasons like 2015 / 16 when Leicester surprised everyone by winning the League? Many of the "usual suspects" are not having good seasons. Unlike the last couple of seasons there is no team dominating. A lack of European football and an early League Cup exit are factors in our favour. Our squad is thin but we were able to withstand the injury to our talisman Ings. Our record since Project Restart is excellent and the team is only getting better. Can we possibly dream that we could win the League this year?  

My view is that the next 2 matches will show how far we can go. Arsenal are currently poor but a win at the Emirates is never easy. Man City are currently under performing and this may change on Saturday. If we get 4 points or more from the next 2 matches, I will start to dream. 

Edited by Tamesaint
My bad!!
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Pilchards

Pilchards

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Posted

I know where you are coming from as nobody is talking about us at all.

Its great they are not as we won’t have any pressure on us.

The thing that gets me is all those games we lost we shouldn’t have.

Theo should of made it 2-0 at Wolves. At Palace the keeper made two worldie saves, We were suicide second half vs Spurs, Utd we should never lose a 2 goal lead.

We could be 6 points clear as it’s a crazy season so far.

Fimally it only takes JWP or Vestergaard to get a bad injury and we could have a struggle.

 

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LuckyNumber7

LuckyNumber7

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It was Wolves not Chelsea who were awarded the penalty which was then overturned. Clear dive by Neto.

Aside from that it's far too early to dream of challenging for the title. There are only 12 games played, if we are still in a similar position come the end of February then maybe but realistically we will be 8th-10th imo which would be a good season.

The table is very tight and it only takes a couple of losses and we will slide down into mid table.

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Tamesaint

Tamesaint

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1 minute ago, LuckyNumber7 said:

It was Wolves not Chelsea who were awarded the penalty which was then overturned. Clear dive by Neto.

Aside from that it's far too early to dream of challenging for the title. There are only 12 games played, if we are still in a similar position come the end of February then maybe but realistically we will be 8th-10th imo which would be a good season.

The table is very tight and it only takes a couple of losses and we will slide down into mid table.

Thanks. Of course it was Wolves. My bad. I will edit. 

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Ted Bates Statue

Ted Bates Statue

Posted
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It's certainly a good chance to achieve European qualification, one of those seasons like 2015/16 when all the usual suspects seem a bit off-colour. Of course I would love to see us make history, after years of dross but there's no point getting ahead of ourselves. When Leicester won the league one of the things Ranieri did very well at was keeping his team grounded, insisting that the team were aiming for 40 points first.

Don't forget we've been in this position before, with more points at this stage in the league, with a bigger points cushion, on the cusp of going top of the league and about to face Arsenal and Man City. What happened next? Boruc tried a Cruyff turn and we lost both games. And that was the end of our last PL title challenge 😂

So yeah, 6th or 7th would be a very good achievable result but it's so congested in the top half, we could end up anywhere in the top ten. Our best chance of glory is in the FA Cup.

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Jimmy_D

Jimmy_D

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Posted

Feels like we've got a team and tactics, as well as form and confidence, that are capable of beating anyone in the league this season.

Right now we're almost a third of the way through the season and actually still in the title fight.

I'm looking for the teams at the top to drop points every game at the moment, and I'm going to enjoy being in the title fight until we're not!

Who knows, might even be able to keep enjoying that to the end of the season? :) 

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AlexLaw76

AlexLaw76

Posted
Posted (edited)

It would be incredible to get Europa League football.  As mentioned above, as soon as we are up against pace and movement against us, we have struggled.

I do not believe we have the squad, we still have no idea if Salisu could be the business or if Diallo could fill in at CM for a run of games,  but I am sure we will give it a bloody good go.

Edited by AlexLaw76
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Saint_clark

Saint_clark

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29 minutes ago, Dark Munster said:

One of Spurs, Liverpool, City and Chelsea will probably win it. There is definitely a chance for a team to do a Leicester though, but I don't think we have the depth.

If a team does do a Leicester, my money's on Leicester.

Don't forget when Leicester did a Leicester they went through the whole season with almost no injuries, certainly not to their key players (Vardy/Ings, Kanye/JWP, Mahrez/....Vestergaard?). So far we've been pretty lucky with injuries and showing no signs of fatigue.

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JRM

JRM

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1 hour ago, Lighthouse said:

No.

We’re a 7-12th team, enjoying a period of good form. Whenever we’ve played anyone decent we’ve been outplayed, and come away with 1 point from 3 games.

This is the correct answer, we are only 6 points ahead of Newcastle who are in 13th place with a game in hand. From now until the end of January there are several 9 point weeks where teams can quickly make up ground, we don't have the squad to manage that. 

Top half is still a good result for is, Europa league would be amazing, would be nice to have an exciting FA Cup run. 

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Whitey Grandad

Whitey Grandad

Posted
Posted

Why Southampton can top the tree at Christmas
Bill Edgar

It is shaping up to be the craziest Premier League season on record and it is only going to get tougher as the clubs enter the hectic Christmas period.

The 20 clubs will play five matches between now and the start of January with a full midweek fixture programme starting tonight. This season has been impossible to predict but — for a bit of festive fun — we decided to make an educated guess at who might sit top of the tree when the decorations come down.

Our projected Premier League table indicates what might happen if teams continue to perform at their present level. It also takes into account the strength of the opposition: both those played this season and those still to be faced.

 

Each team is given a ‘home’ and ‘away’ ranking. The home ranking is the halfway point between a team’s average points earned in home matches and the average points gained by their opponents in away matches. For example, Southampton average two points per game at home and their six opponents have averaged 1.41 points per game in away matches. Southampton’s ‘home’ ranking is therefore 1.71.

To predict the results of the festive fixtures, we compared home teams’ home rankings with the away teams’ away rankings. Anything less than a difference of 0.15 between the rankings is counted as a draw, to maintain the Premier League’s draw rate of 20 per cent. Otherwise, the team with the higher figure earns victory.

Southampton’s ‘home’ ranking of 1.71 is the second best in the Premier League and, under our projection, is enough to earn victories over Liverpool and Manchester City who have ‘away’ rankings of 1.30 and 1.22 respectively.

Here, we have predicted the results of all 50 matches. If any results look strange, that is because they reflect a very strange season.

KEY:
HW Home win; D Draw; AW Away win
This week’s midweek matches all live on Amazon Prime Video

Today
Wolves v Chelsea 6pm D 
Man City v West Brom 8pm HW

Tomorrow
Arsenal v Southampton 6pm AW
Leeds v Newcastle 6pm AW
Leicester v Everton 6pm AW
Fulham v Brighton 8pm AW
Liverpool v Tottenham 8pm HW
West Ham v C Palace 8pm HW

Thursday
A Villa v Burnley 6pm D
Sheff Utd v Man Utd 8pm AW

Saturday
C Palace v Liverpool 12.30pm HW
S’hampton v Man City 3pm HW
Everton v Arsenal 5.30pm HW
Newcastle v Fulham 8pm HW

Sunday
Brighton v Sheff Utd 12pm HW
Tottenham v Leicester 2.15pm AW
Man Utd v Leeds 4.30pm AW
West Brom v A Villa 7.15pm AW

Monday
Burnley v Wolves 5.30pm D
Chelsea v West Ham 8pm D

Dec 26
Leicester v Man Utd 12.30pm AW
Aston Villa v C Palace 3pm D
Fulham v Southampton 3pm AW
Arsenal v Chelsea 5.30pm AW
Man City v Newcastle 8pm D
Sheff Utd v Everton 8pm AW

Dec 27
Leeds v Burnley 12pm D
West Ham v Brighton 2.15pm HW
Liverpool v W Brom 4.30pm HW
Wolves v Tottenham 7.15pm AW

Dec 28
C Palace v Leicester 3pm AW
Chelsea v A Villa 5.30pm D
Everton v Man City 8pm HW

Dec 29
Brighton v Arsenal 6pm AW
Burnley v Sheff Utd 6pm HW
Southampton v West Ham 6pm D
West Brom v Leeds 6pm AW
Man Utd v Wolves 8pm AW

Dec 30
Tottenham v Fulham 6pm HW
Newcastle v Liverpool 8pm HW

Jan 2 (to be confirmed)
Brighton v Wolves AW
Burnley v Fulham HW
Chelsea v Man City HW
C Palace v Sheff Utd HW
Everton v West Ham D
Man Utd v A Villa AW
Newcastle v Leicester AW
Southampton v Liverpool HW
Tottenham v Leeds D
West Brom v Arsenal AW

 

 

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Nordic Saint

Nordic Saint

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Posted

I want to say it now, because I haven't had the opportunity for 40 years, and it might all fade away tomorrow anyway but, right now, we are in with a serious chance of WINNING the Premier League. The next 2 games against Arsenal and Man City are critical. Win them and we are still on our way to the title; lose them and the dream is over. But, whatever happens, being top of the league for 2 days already this season and being in the mix for the title has been absolutely brilliant.

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Sheaf Saint

Sheaf Saint

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Posted (edited)

I remember a thread similar to this in 2014/15. A few people were getting carried away and suggesting we could be in a title fight, and some more realistic posters were adamant we wouldn't keep up the pace. The latter were proved right. 

Is it different this time round? The biggest difference I see is that none of the usual big 6 looks dominant and they are all dropping points where they shouldn't be. From our perspective though, we have pretty much the same squad limitations as we had 6 years ago. We have a good first 11 who can compete against most teams, but we are only a couple of injuries away from it all going horribly wrong. 

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Nordic Saint

Nordic Saint

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10 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Lame thread which will look more lame as the months go on. We have a great chance of Europe this year which would be superb. 

Lighten up and dream FFS. Of course, we would all be happy with qualifying for Europe again but to be serious contenders for the title, even if it's just for a few weeks, is extra special and in my half a century of supporting Saints the chance hasn't come along too often. When the chance presents itself, don't be afraid to dream and I'm sure Ralph and the players share that philosophy.  Our 2 days at the top so far this season brought more joy to Saints fans than any number of top 8 finishes, and we have had a lot of them. 

Whatever happens, I will always be happy to remember that, well into December in the 20/21 season, we were serious contenders. Of course, if we go on to win the league it will be even better.

Edited by Nordic Saint
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Patrick Bateman

Patrick Bateman

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Posted
4 minutes ago, SNSUN said:

We won't win the league but...

We can beat anyone on our day, so we should really be looking to win the FA Cup. Seriously.

This.  That's all I ask for of my team - another FA Cup win and I think this is the team to do it.

I mean don't get me wrong I won't be moaning if Saints win the Premier League, but that is very unlikely. An FA Cup win and Europe next season, job done. 

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hypochondriac

hypochondriac

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8 hours ago, Nordic Saint said:

Lighten up and dream FFS. Of course, we would all be happy with qualifying for Europe again but to be serious contenders for the title, even if it's just for a few weeks, is extra special and in my half a century of supporting Saints the chance hasn't come along too often. When the chance presents itself, don't be afraid to dream and I'm sure Ralph and the players share that philosophy.  Our 2 days at the top so far this season brought more joy to Saints fans than any number of top 8 finishes, and we have had a lot of them. 

Whatever happens, I will always be happy to remember that, well into December in the 20/21 season, we were serious contenders. Of course, if we go on to win the league it will be even better.

You can't be serious contenders for the title for a few weeks. You don't win anything in December. I'm enjoying our brilliant form and it's so nice to see after the last few seasons but I'm not being ridiculous and going overboard. I'll be extremely happy with European qualification and leave it at that. 

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wild-saint

wild-saint

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8 hours ago, Nordic Saint said:

I want to say it now, because I haven't had the opportunity for 40 years, and it might all fade away tomorrow anyway but, right now, we are in with a serious chance of WINNING the Premier League. The next 2 games against Arsenal and Man City are critical. Win them and we are still on our way to the title; lose them and the dream is over. But, whatever happens, being top of the league for 2 days already this season and being in the mix for the title has been absolutely brilliant.

This is my attitude. Bang on to every other fan about winning the league while we are flying high and when (inevitably) we fall away we all know including other teams fan It was all a bit tongue in cheek banter. But here’s the thing however small the chance there is a chance and with every Hurdle passed the chance gets a little bigger. 
 

I say enjoy the ride as it may be over tonight, maybe!

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Wurzel

Wurzel

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Posted

Who else is old enough to remember those pre-PL days when fans of every club could at least start the season dreaming that this could be their year.? It didn't always last beyond mid-October before reality set in but at least there was hope.

Win tonight, and depending on other results we are anything from 4th to joint top with a third of the season gone.I'm not writing us off yet.

 

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SaintBobby

SaintBobby

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Posted

We were about 1000/1 to win the league at the start of the season. Now about 125/1. Sounds about right to me. Was practically inconceivable. Is now merely vanishingly unlikely.

I think we have a really good chance of a Europa League slot though. And maybe, just maybe, could get top four of the cards really fall our way (I think that’s about a 20/1 shot at the moment).

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Lord Duckhunter

Lord Duckhunter

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If we’re going to see another Leicester, this will be the season. However I’m not so sure even Leicester would have done a Leicester had it been this spurs set up rather than Poch’s. When Leicester should have been feeling pressure and heat, spurs imploded. Jose’s spurs won’t, not the way they play and the mindset he installs. If anyone is going to overhaul city or Liverpool, it’ll be them. 

Knowing us , we’ll probably finish above city & Liverpool, but second behind Spurs. After all, we did finish above Man Utd and still managed to get relegated, 
 

 

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egg

egg

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Posted

Let's face it, we won't win the league, but this season and the end of last has been fantastic. We're playing some fantastic football and winning matches. 

Personally, I'll carry on enjoying the ride and we'll finish where we finish. Hopefully we can snatch a European place, and enjoy an FA cup run. 

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Saint Garrett

Saint Garrett

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Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, jamesfp1 said:

If we beat Arsenal tonight i'll start dreaming, but I can see these next 2 games being the ones to put us back in our place.

I'm expecting the same, however Arsenal out of form, and terrible home record, and City don't look anything like they did a year or two ago, and we beat them back in whatever month it was. 

If we could somehow sneak both of these, then of course we're well in contention for a top 6 place.  

If you look at it from a negative perspective, we never beat Arsenal away, City is still City, Fulham found some form, West Ham our bogey team, Liverpool are Liverpool, could be 5 losses....

Personally I think we're a better side (and seem more consistent) than a lot of teams in the league this season. I expect Liverpool & Spurs to be out ahead, and maybe Chelsea & City, and us to be battling with Man Utd, Wolves, Leicester, West Ham, Everton and possibly Villa for the remaining 6-11th positions.

Think anything lower than 8th would be a failure given where we are now, and how well we've been playing over the last 13/14 months. Because of the fact the top 6 aren't smashing everyone this season, I think ou'll see 60 odd points get top 6, which works out at only about 1.4 points per game between now and the end of the season.

Edited by Saint Garrett
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saintadjg

saintadjg

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Posted

When i look at our form over the last year, i'll be pretty dissapointed if we don't make top 6 this year. The league is wide open this season.

Our good form is not just the last 12 games its over an entire seasons worth of football. Obviously we are only a few injuries/suspensions away from being severely tested squad wise.

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Turkish

Turkish

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Posted
8 hours ago, Saint Garrett said:

I'm expecting the same, however Arsenal out of form, and terrible home record, and City don't look anything like they did a year or two ago, and we beat them back in whatever month it was. 

If we could somehow sneak both of these, then of course we're well in contention for a top 6 place.  

If you look at it from a negative perspective, we never beat Arsenal away, City is still City, Fulham found some form, West Ham our bogey team, Liverpool are Liverpool, could be 5 losses....

Personally I think we're a better side (and seem more consistent) than a lot of teams in the league this season. I expect Liverpool & Spurs to be out ahead, and maybe Chelsea & City, and us to be battling with Man Utd, Wolves, Leicester, West Ham, Everton and possibly Villa for the remaining 6-11th positions.

Think anything lower than 8th would be a failure given where we are now, and how well we've been playing over the last 13/14 months. Because of the fact the top 6 aren't smashing everyone this season, I think ou'll see 60 odd points get top 6, which works out at only about 1.4 points per game between now and the end of the season.

A top 10 finish is a great season for us. We only had a dozen or so in our history. I also hope if we have the chance to progress in the FA cup we prioritise that over some head in the cloud champions league chase bollox 

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Nolan

Nolan

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On 15/12/2020 at 21:22, Lighthouse said:

No.

We’re a 7-12th team, enjoying a period of good form. Whenever we’ve played anyone decent we’ve been outplayed, and come away with 1 point from 3 games.

I think calling it a "period of good form" really undersells what we have achieved in 2020. We have Lost 9 premier League Games in the whole of 2020 up to now. 5 of those came before the initial lockdown.

 

356348922_2020table.thumb.png.c82b18f893c5b04b4f8aa7bf8024bc88.png

 

 

 

 

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Jimmy_D

Jimmy_D

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, adrian lord said:

The second half at home to Man U shows why we won't win the league. 

Chelsea's second half against us shows why they won't win the league...

Liverpool's second half against Everton shows why they won't win the league...

Spurs second half against Palace shows why they won't win the league...

City's second half against Leeds shows why they won't win the league...

If we're not careful no-one's going to end up winning it!

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