Top four finish?

[gregga]

Leicester, I feel will start to realise the difficulty of teams parking the bus, or at least setting up to defend against them. They've been fantastic but I think from here on in, with teams wary of their attacking threat, they're going struggle.

They've allowed teams the ball and have set up to counter attack. It's going to be interesting now, with teams, even as shit as Villa being aware that they can't attack them too gung ho and Leicester now will struggle to break teams down.

That Villa result wasn't a fluke either... Think this may be the beginning of seeing Leicester being figured out. They haven't been good value for a win for a few games now.

Err they beat us a few days ago in the exact same style that has served them so well so far this season.

I thought they were bound to fall away but now I'm not so sure.

 

[shoggy33]

I do think Leicester will get fewer points in the second half of the season than the first, everyone is taking them a bit more seriously and putting in special measures to deal with Vardy and Mahrez as evidenced by their last few games. I can't see those two (Vardy at least) replicating that form, and without them they are just a good defensive unit. Having said that, they are definitely gunna be in the running until the bitter end, and 5 points is quite a big gap to reign in so I'm not as confident as other people. I'm especially nervous given that in Leicester and United we seem to be competing with the two luckiest teams in the league. Fingers crossed though, we've definitely got the ability to do it.

 

[Good Doctor M]

Err they beat us a few days ago in the exact same style that has served them so well so far this season.

I thought they were bound to fall away but now I'm not so sure.

We should have been 2 goals up and comfortable with 20 minutes to go. I don't put that result down to anything other than not getting the rub of the green. Leicester got lucky against us, anyone who's not a doom monger could see that.

I honestly think they'll struggle to get close to their mid season point tally. I've watched s fair few of their games, and they are good but they're not top 3 or 4 good imo.

 

[millsey]

Can't believe we are ignoring what Europa league is going to do to us and utd over the others in the top 4. May be a deciding factor

 

[millsey]

We should have been 2 goals up and comfortable with 20 minutes to go. I don't put that result down to anything other than not getting the rub of the green. Leicester got lucky against us, anyone who's not a doom monger could see that.

I honestly think they'll struggle to get close to their mid season point tally. I've watched s fair few of their games, and they are good but they're not top 3 or 4 good imo.

And Man Utd or West Ham are? We could have played 4 hours we still wouldn't have scored against Leicester.

 

[hughy]

Last 6Last updated: 20:26pm 17th January



It's over 6 games

That's clearly not the point I was making.

I'm saying no one seems to be able to put a run of wins together at the moment.

 

[Zammo]

All things considered you would expect to Leicester to continue to pick up bad results. I think their form is currently one win in five (against us!). They cede huge amounts of possession and hit quickly on the counter attack. It's very predicable and they don't really have much of a plan B. But they are very very good at plan A.
As people have said it doesn't take much to come up with a game plan to neutralise them but you might have to setup to accept a draw. For many teams this might be fine. Obviously it wasn't for us, but then I think we were unlucky to lose too.

Logically I think if you take into account that teams will take Leicester very seriously and plan to neutralise them and you also consider that their goal scoring is attributed primarily to two super human performances you could well assume that positive results for them will start to tail off. Current form suggest this is the case as well.

However, that is quite a superficial view. If you look at their form over the last 12 - 13 months you can see that this is no purple patch. They are a very solid team with good players throughout and no obvious weaknesses. You do wonder where the goals might come if their key payers get injured but the same accusation could be levelled at any team. I absolutely would not rule them out of the mix for a top 4 spot at all.
I think come the end of the season the current top 5 will be the same, but the order might be a bit different. Unfortunately even though this has been a good season for us a 5th place is still a very real possibility.

 

[KILLA_SIN]

Err they beat us a few days ago in the exact same style that has served them so well so far this season.

I thought they were bound to fall away but now I'm not so sure.

By we did attack them all game the poster was pointing out that a lot of the lower placed sides a wont attack them so much

 

[oohaahedgar]

We will definitely come above Leicester. Just had a quick read through of the comments after the midweek loss and there's a lot of nonsense being spouted.

 

[fletch82]

To beat them you have to let them have the ball.
We don't so struggle because as soon as they lose it they are so well drilled in getting 11 men behind it
We need to be a bit braver and let them out hopefully at their ground they will feel the need to attack more

 

[Good Doctor M]

And Man Utd or West Ham are? We could have played 4 hours we still wouldn't have scored against Leicester.

Top Four as I see it will consist of City, Arsenal, Us, Man Utd.

As far as the Leicester result goes, we hit the bar, Lamela should have scored, Ali could have had one... You say we could have played for 4 hours and still not scored, but the reality is we got so much closer to scoring than Leicester throughout the game. We outplayed them, out-shot them, made their keeper work more than ours - most other days, we win that game comfortably. We deserved more than we got and only for a freak (by Toby's standards) lapse at a corner, we conceeded a soft goal.

Leicester are playing fabulously well, but there is a ceiling to how far they can go with the players they have, regardless of how well the manager has them set up.

They're entering unchartered territory now. They've positioned themselves in a great place to get a CL spot, but their players are now going into games where other teams are seeing beating them as a scalp. They're not going to be able to play their counter attacking game against the majority of the league, because every other manager now knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt that if they over committ in attacking them they'll get hit. Arsenal, City and outselves can attack them, because we can be confident that we'll do them (and in truth, any other day of the week and we win that game at a canter - don't let the final result mask the fact that we had Leicester in trouble for the vast majority of the game) but Palace, Stoke, West Ham, Liverpool, Everton - basically any premier league team who's got a bit about them have now seen enough of Leicester to know how to go and get a result against them... Even Aston Villa have caught on.

Can you imagine the stink in here if we were held to a draw against Villa.

Leicester are going to continue to get decent results, but they're going to have a tougher, FAR tougher second half of the season. Teams are going to sit back, let them come at them a little and try to hit them on the counter. They'll play out a lot of 0-0s I reckon, scrape a few 1-0 wins and lose a few by that scoreline too.

They've been fantastic and fair play to them, but the swashbuckling, sweeping teams aside days, I really do think are over for them.

 

[longtimespur]

Top Four as I see it will consist of City, Arsenal, Us, Man Utd.
As far as the Leicester result goes, we hit the bar, Lamela should have scored, Ali could have had one... You say we could have played for 4 hours and still not scored, but the reality is we got so much closer to scoring than Leicester throughout the game. We outplayed them, out-shot them, made their keeper work more than ours - most other days, we win that game comfortably. We deserved more than we got and only for a freak (by Toby's standards) lapse at a corner, we conceeded a soft goal.
Can you imagine the stink in here if we were held to a draw against Villa.
Leicester are going to continue to get decent results, but they're going to have a tougher, FAR tougher second half of the season. Teams are going to sit back, let them come at them a little and try to hit them on the counter. They'll play out a lot of 0-0s I reckon, scrape a few 1-0 wins and lose a few by that scoreline too /QUOTE]








I remember it well, good old HR

 

[Pimp_Spur]

next 6 games are massive: - these are not in fixture order but just split between home and away games

Arsenil play: Chelsea (H) Southampton (H) Leicester (H) Swansea (H) and Bournemouth (A) man utd (A).........potential for 2 of our top 4 rivals to lose points

Liecester play: Stoke (H) Liverpool (H) Norwich (H) West Brom (H) and Man City (A) Arsenal (A)........you would think they would drop points to city and arse and be ok in their home fixtures

City play: Sunderland (H) Leicester (H) Spurs (H) Liverpool (H) W.ham (A) Newcastle (A)........some tricky games for them coming up, but again a possibility of our rivals losing points plus us potentially losing points too

Spurs Play: Watford (H) Swansea (H) Palace (A) Norwich (A) City (A) Wham (A)......4 out of 6 away - might benefit us as hopefully the teams do not park the bus, but again some tricky away games including a london derby

United play: Soton (H) Stoke (H) Arse (H) Watford (H) Chelski (A) Sunderland (A).......a mixed bag of fixtures, if they pull their finger out though they could pick up a fair few points

Wham play: City (H) Villa (H) Sunderland (H) Spurs (H) Soton (A) Norwich (A)........their 2 toughest games are at home, other than that they could pick up maximum points from the other 4

Arse, City, United and Spurs all have European games squeezed in between these fixtures also.......if we can remain in the top 4 after these games above i will be happy

 

[worcestersauce]

Sorry to go slightly off topic but does anyone know where I can find a week by week graph of our league position this season, I am trying to get a handle on our progression but can't find the info.
Cheers

 

[Shadydan]

Everyone scurtinising our league games and the run in

Just enjoy the ride and chill

 

[longtimespur]

Everyone scurtinising our league games and the run in

Just enjoy the ride and chill

What's gone has gone,
what's done is done.
What's coming we don't know.
Ain't it exciting though

 

[yankspurs]

I do think Leicester will get fewer points in the second half of the season than the first, everyone is taking them a bit more seriously and putting in special measures to deal with Vardy and Mahrez as evidenced by their last few games. I can't see those two (Vardy at least) replicating that form, and without them they are just a good defensive unit. Having said that, they are definitely gunna be in the running until the bitter end, and 5 points is quite a big gap to reign in so I'm not as confident as other people. I'm especially nervous given that in Leicester and United we seem to be competing with the two luckiest teams in the league. Fingers crossed though, we've definitely got the ability to do it.

They might not be able to replicate the form, but they are still holding their own very well. Plus, they do have other good players besides Vardy and Mahrez. They'll be in the thick of it for a while. Might not be able to withstand a title run but will surely be able to have a real go at top 4, IMO.

 

[Ady turner]

With the fixture list looking stacked over the next month it really is a test of Poch's squad management. We can't run our key players in to the ground.

Rest periods for Dier, Alli, Lamela and Kane are hugely important.

Can Bentaleb gain back the trust of Poch?

Can Mason get back to form and fitness?

Can Pritchard cut the mustard at the top level?

Can Levy work some magic and get in a striker to share the burden with Kane?

All key questions that will have a say in how our season will pan out.

 

[Good Doctor M]

next 6 games are massive: - these are not in fixture order but just split between home and away games

Arsenil play: Chelsea (H) Southampton (H) Leicester (H) Swansea (H) and Bournemouth (A) man utd (A).........potential for 2 of our top 4 rivals to lose points

Liecester play: Stoke (H) Liverpool (H) Norwich (H) West Brom (H) and Man City (A) Arsenal (A)........you would think they would drop points to city and arse and be ok in their home fixtures

City play: Sunderland (H) Leicester (H) Spurs (H) Liverpool (H) W.ham (A) Newcastle (A)........some tricky games for them coming up, but again a possibility of our rivals losing points plus us potentially losing points too

Spurs Play: Watford (H) Swansea (H) Palace (A) Norwich (A) City (A) Wham (A)......4 out of 6 away - might benefit us as hopefully the teams do not park the bus, but again some tricky away games including a london derby

United play: Soton (H) Stoke (H) Arse (H) Watford (H) Chelski (A) Sunderland (A).......a mixed bag of fixtures, if they pull their finger out though they could pick up a fair few points

Wham play: City (H) Villa (H) Sunderland (H) Spurs (H) Soton (A) Norwich (A)........their 2 toughest games are at home, other than that they could pick up maximum points from the other 4

Arse, City, United and Spurs all have European games squeezed in between these fixtures also.......if we can remain in the top 4 after these games above i will be happy

All very good points... but West Ham?

I'm as worried about West Ham as I am about contracting the Bubonic Plague. They'll slither off into their hole in the next few weeks.

 

[npearl4spurs]

Stoke is a bad matchup for Leicester.