Quincy Abeyie wrote:
Claudius wrote:

What about the other teams? Are they coming to play us after a week long rest as well? I think we will be just fine.  Everyone has a hard fixture list.
The only thing I worry about is injury. But I have always banked on us being a bit lucky with injuries to our starting 11 to stay in the top 2.

What? That it's a tough game for us doesn't mean it isn't for our opponent. 

exactly. All those games are tough except Hammers cos they been shite.
We can certainly win them, it just won't be easy. Any wins out of those, barring Everton, would be massive statements in the title race. Newcastle have stopped being chumps playing away too so even a home win v them is huge.

9 days later

Our game v Man City has been re-arranged for Wed Feb 15th:

Good to see Man City have back to back games to Utd and Spurs a few weeks before that though.

a month later

Burnwinter

Good start to this, which has made the next couple feel a little less daunting even without Jesus. Hopefully by the time we face Spurs and United we'll have reinforcements in the form of ESR and Mudryk.

Interesting little stat by the way. If our final 23 games bear the same results as the last 23 from last season (a period that included 7 losses), we'll end up on 86 points.

    Brighton–Newcastle feels more daunting currently than Spurs–United — anyone else feel that?

    One game at a time, our West Ham performance just gone would challenge any of this roster.

    Pepe LeFrits Think currently we are probably more likely to beat City at Ettihad than Newcastle at St James.

      I actually can’t wait to see us play Newcastle. They’re probably the most aggressive pressing side in the league right now. On the other hand we’re probably the most press resistant team in the league. Going to be fun to see how it plays out.

      The Brighton fixture is a bit of an uncertain wedge for me, but I am optimistic about a stellar grudge tour in January.
      Not sure how effective Arteta will be with rotation. He's not been very liberal with it ever or recently. If he doesn't intend to rotate, hopefully it'll at least bring good returns.

        KingslandBarge I think from his POV he is probably telling the owners he wants and will need to rotate but still don't have good enough personnel on the bench to trust.

        He probably have seen enough from limited viewing to know the fringe players he has at his disposal is good enough for a top 4 emergency job but not good enough to keep up with the Citeh Machine

        Our January fixtures are really a horrible piece of work. Can't see us coping without Jesus

            Clrnc Our January fixtures are really a horrible piece of work. Can't see us coping without Jesus

            I don't get this.

            I understand that we're all gutted that Jesus is out as he's been one of our best players but fundamentally, the way we play isn't reliant on him or any one player. With Eddie, we'll miss the contribution in the build-up but we probably gain more threat in the penalty area. All in all, it's not ideal but I think we have enough attacking potential within the team.

                Don Pacifico All in all, it's not ideal but I think we have enough attacking potential within the team.

                And if Eddie gets a knock or a red card? We're way too short up top.

                    Coombs

                    Then Martinelli plays centrally.

                    The reason we have a squad is so that we have players who can fill in. It's also why Arteta has prioritised players who are positionally flexible.

                      Don Pacifico I don't get this.

                      Don't think we've seen the deficit yet, playing West Ham. Jesus is statistically the top defensive forward in the league, as well as persistently terrifying defences and dragging players out of position with his threat on the ball. Also very crafty at set pieces.

                      Could be that we won't miss him, but I think it'll be rather obvious versus an organised defence.

                          Burnwinter

                          Perhaps - for the record, my perspective isn't coloured by the WH match as I've said the same thing the last couple of weeks.

                          That being said, in response to your specific point I think it's worth remembering how much pressing the whole front line were doing against West Ham, to the point that in the second half it was notable how quickly we won the ball back. Of course Jesus has been a massive contributor in this regard but it's also a strategy deployed across the team, many of whom are also pretty proficient at it too.

                            Yes, not so much that your perspective is coloured by West Ham, as that beating West Ham tells us very little. We all had that chalked as a win even with Jesus injured I reckon.

                            I agree with you to a point, even in the last match, the willingness and capability of Martinelli and Saka to step up, press, terrorise defences and score was not just evident, but proven. And no one could say we've relied on Jesus for goals …

                            We shouldn't fall into the trap of counting one player twice (Martinelli) just because he could play multiple positions. Even with Mudryk, we're short up front as long as Jesus is out (and even if he comes back on time, can we really just chuck him in to a Europa semi-final?).

                            Brighton (A)
                            Barcodes (H)
                            [Oxford (A)]
                            Spuds (A)
                            Mancs (H)
                            Everton (A)

                            Get through this with more than 10 points and we winning this league.

                              banduan

                              We will be basically at halfway point of the league. City are still to do one of those ten game winning streaks

                                  Claudius Don't forget City had many many late winners at the start of the season undeserved. They are very vulnerable this year

                                    Cheering on Chelsea, Spurs and United in the next few weeks will require a long shower afterwards.