There is a glimmer of hope but next 7 days is huge.

I remember when City caught us in 2022-2023, we were 8 points clear in April and they had a game in hand (including having to play us). Then we kept drawing 2-2. Sound familiar?

We are in the exact same position City were in albeit a few weeks earlier which is better for us as more time to claw back points.

Liverpool obvs won’t bottle it having such a huge lead over us

But if, and it’s a big if, City beat them this weekend and we get the dubya over West Ham then the bugger will mathematically be in our hands

Glass half empty view: if we don't beat them at Anfield, we're not getting anything from this season.

Glass half full view: supposing somehow we did beat them at Anfield, all else being equal we're as close right now as we were on the final day last season.

    Burnwinter Glass half empty view: if we don't beat them at Anfield, we're not getting anything from this season.

    A draw could be enough if we can hit extreme form in other games. However its hard to see it given our injuries.

    If we had Havertz, Saka and Martinelli coming back sooner I'd be very gung ho however. Liverpool are there for the taking, we just may not have enough to make the most of it.

        Qwiss Pool have been running hot. They have a series of tough games. Will take a mental toll. And they’re under more pressure as the leaders.

          Burnwinter Glass half empty view: if we don't beat them at Anfield, we're not getting anything from this season

          this is the view I've come to (and had only previously shared with Jo and someone at work): win at Anfield, we win the league.

          Although, the way Liverpool are going, we might not even need to do that...

              RocktheCasbah without sounding like Haaland, let’s be humble. We are fortunate we still have a glimmer of hope to be honest.

              Liverpool game is way into the horizon. Let’s take it game by game. As mentioned, end of Feb (ie next Wed) we will have a much better understanding.

              In March us and Liverpool only play 2 and 1 game respectively.

                  Sicario2 - Tier 1 oh look at you, being the voice of moderation all of a sudden! 🤣

                  I was joking about Liverpool, obviously. But I do believe that game at Anfield has serious winner takes all potential. It's something I've felt for a while.

                  And Sicario, you have to admit, I've been very consistent about saying this wasn't over - so I'm not just reacting to last night.

                    There's a long way to go before Anfield can be a title decider. We basically need to not fuck up until then and we still won't have Saka for the next month or so. Didn't manage to avoid fuck ups even when Saka was fit so colour me highly sceptical.

                    • Tam replied to this.
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                      Don Pacifico I wasn't aware until Sicario's post above how few games there in the next month or so. Albeit the two in March are Man United away and Chelsea at home, which regardless of either their current form are potential banana skins at the best of times. The FA Cup showed there's nothing like an Arsenal game to give an underperforming Man United team a helping hand.

                      It's fortunate we have so few games in the next 6 weeks given the injury situation. We won't overload the team too much, especially Nwaneri. We do have a run of games every few days coming back in April though.

                          I won't start believing unless we can get through the next 4 games (West Ham, Forest, United, Chelsea) with max points, with Liverpool dropping another 2-3 points. Then we get Saka and Martinelli back and if it's a 2-3 point gap going into the final 9 games with us also going to Anfield... game on at that point.

                          I would be absolutely shaking with nerves if we came out of Anfield with the advantage and then had to face Newcastle again... But I'd rather have that problem than not.

                          Tam yeah, but even that's an optimistic take that Saka will be ready to go come April 1st. Likelihood is that he'll take a bit of time to get match sharp/will need to have his minutes managed to avoid aggravating the injury he's recovered from.

                              RocktheCasbah I don't think you're wrong really. If we win the games we should win, get draws in the hard ones and win at Anfield then we'd certainly take the title.