Win tonight and we're 4 points behind Utd

[The Birdman]

Now, I know that's not ideal and no-one is arguing that we have had a terrible start to the season but when you consider Utd are still many 'experts' favourites for the title and people are calling for Rafa's head it's just madness.

With or without Gerrard and Torres we should have enough to beat Birmingham at home then hopefully the international break should give us enough time to get everyone back fit for the pre and post Christmas period.

I'm not convinced we will be able to catch Chelsea but talk of us dropping out of the top 4 is very premature.

Fingers crossed for 3 points tonight then push on

[Guest]

Now, I know that's not ideal and no-one is arguing that we have had a terrible start to the season but when you consider Utd are still many 'experts' favourites for the title and people are calling for Rafa's head it's just madness.

With or without Gerrard and Torres we should have enough to beat Birmingham at home then hopefully the international break should give us enough time to get everyone back fit for the pre and post Christmas period.

I'm not convinced we will be able to catch Chelsea but talk of us dropping out of the top 4 is very premature.

Fingers crossed for 3 points tonight then push on

United have already lost 3 games and they're second. I reckon they'll beat Chelsea at home, we'll beat Chelsea at home and Arsenal will beat Chelsea at home, meaning we're far from being 'out of it' like some people have said.

We've been extremely unlucky with injuries and this tested our squad (and would have tested any squad for that matter) to the limits.

Thing that people will have to be reminded of is that Chelsea without Drogba aren't the same team, likewise for United if they're without Rooney and Giggs. I do think that we're about to get out of the worst phase of the season for us, then it will be up and onwards.

Belief is the key.

[Bender]

all well and good winning tonight it's the game after we seem to be losing.....then we go back to square 1

[Scratch]

Fingers crossed that after this short international break we'll see the return of some key players...how nice would it be to finally be able to field our strongest team for the first time this season??

--------------Reina---------------
Johnson--Carragher--Agger--Aurelio
-----------Mascherano------------
---Kuyt------Aqualani------Riera---
---------Gerrard-------------------
--------------------Torres---------

See that team start for a few weeks, with players like Benny, Lucas, Babel, Insua, Skrtel all on the bench, vying for a spot...we ain't in that bad a shape, we've just been blighted by too many injuries to key personnel, and no team would cope with having 3 or 4 big names out or unfit, i don't care what the pundits say.

[andrewces38]

United have already lost 3 games and they're second. I reckon they'll beat Chelsea at home, we'll beat Chelsea at home and Arsenal will beat Chelsea at home, meaning we're far from being 'out of it' like some people have said.

We've been extremely unlucky with injuries and this tested our squad (and would have tested any squad for that matter) to the limits.

Thing that people will have to be reminded of is that Chelsea without Drogba aren't the same team, likewise for United if they're without Rooney and Giggs. I do think that we're about to get out of the worst phase of the season for us, then it will be up and onwards.

Belief is the key.

I agree and they got the African Nations coming in the new year so No Essien Drogba and others

[Bender]

Unless Torres and Gerrard are %100 fit then were risk losing them long term.

[Guest]

Fingers crossed that after this short international break we'll see the return of some key players...how nice would it be to finally be able to field our strongest team for the first time this season??

--------------Reina---------------
Johnson--Carragher--Agger--Aurelio
-----------Mascherano------------
---Kuyt------Aqualani------Riera---
---------Gerrard-------------------
--------------------Torres---------

See that team start for a few weeks, with players like Benny, Lucas, Babel, Insua, Skrtel all on the bench, vying for a spot...we ain't in that bad a shape, we've just been blighted by too many injuries to key personnel, and no team would cope with having 3 or 4 big names out or unfit, i don't care what the pundits say.

I think Aquilani will find it difficult to get into the first team straight away, with Lucas playing very well at the moment. He might well be used as a super sub for some time before he finally starts a game.

[Chazza]

I agree and they got the African Nations coming in the new year so No Essien Drogba and others

The only issue is the fixtures that they are going to miss, not the most difficult.

African Nations runs from Jan 10th - 31st

Fixtures in that time are:-

Saturday, 9 January 2010
Arsenal v Everton, 15:00
Birmingham v Man Utd, 17:30
Burnley v Stoke, 15:00
Fulham v Portsmouth, 15:00
Hull v Chelsea, 12:45
Sunderland v Bolton, 15:00
Wigan v Aston Villa, 15:00

Sunday, 10 January 2010
Liverpool v Tottenham, 16:00
West Ham v Wolverhampton, 13:30

Monday, 11 January 2010
Man City v Blackburn, 20:00

Saturday, 16 January 2010
Blackburn v Fulham, 15:00
Chelsea v Sunderland, 15:00
Everton v Man City, 17:30
Man Utd v Burnley, 15:00
Portsmouth v Birmingham, 15:00
Stoke v Liverpool, 12:45
Tottenham v Hull, 15:00
Wolverhampton v Wigan, 15:00

Sunday, 17 January 2010
Aston Villa v West Ham, 13:30
Bolton v Arsenal, 16:00

Tuesday, 26 January 2010
Bolton v Burnley, 20:00
Man Utd v Hull, 19:45
Portsmouth v West Ham, 19:45
Stoke v Man City, 19:45
Tottenham v Fulham, 19:45
Wolverhampton v Liverpool, 19:45

Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Aston Villa v Arsenal, 19:45
Blackburn v Wigan, 19:45
Chelsea v Birmingham, 19:45
Everton v Sunderland, 20:00

Saturday, 30 January 2010
Birmingham v Tottenham, 15:00
Burnley v Chelsea, 17:30
Fulham v Aston Villa, 15:00
Hull v Wolverhampton, 15:00
Liverpool v Bolton, 15:00
West Ham v Blackburn, 15:00
Wigan v Everton, 15:00

Sunday, 31 January 2010
Arsenal v Man Utd, 16:00
Man City v Portsmouth, 13:30

Week after is Chelsea v Arsenal when all the players will be back

Looking at Chelseas fixtures they would still fancy to win all those games without Drogba, Essien etc.

City and Arsenal do have a couple of tricky games though.

[Slinky Skills]

United have already lost 3 games and they're second. I reckon they'll beat Chelsea at home, we'll beat Chelsea at home and Arsenal will beat Chelsea at home, meaning we're far from being 'out of it' like some people have said.

We've been extremely unlucky with injuries and this tested our squad (and would have tested any squad for that matter) to the limits.

Thing that people will have to be reminded of is that Chelsea without Drogba aren't the same team, likewise for United if they're without Rooney and Giggs. I do think that we're about to get out of the worst phase of the season for us, then it will be up and onwards.

Belief is the key.

Totally agree chief.

I don't beleive we'll win it this year, think the title is Chelsea's but as long as Utd don't win it that's the main thing.

I think we'll be like Obi Wan Kenobi next year, we'll be struck down this year but next year we'll come back more powerful than the other teams can imagine!

I do think we'll be a real force next year, we'll be a better all round team.

[Redspin]

Now, I know that's not ideal and no-one is arguing that we have had a terrible start to the season but when you consider Utd are still many 'experts' favourites for the title and people are calling for Rafa's head it's just madness.

With or without Gerrard and Torres we should have enough to beat Birmingham at home then hopefully the international break should give us enough time to get everyone back fit for the pre and post Christmas period.

I'm not convinced we will be able to catch Chelsea but talk of us dropping out of the top 4 is very premature.

Fingers crossed for 3 points tonight then push on

To be honest even Chelsea have been more workmanlike than inspirational in most games. Yesterday's match with Man U was a very ordinary affair, distinguished only by an almost complete absence of decent football and goalmouth incidents.

Neither team was at all impressive and it was no surprise the only goal came from a set-piece.

Against us Chelsea were similarly struggling to create anything until the Mascherano error caught us on the back foot and the final 2-0 scoreline gave a very flattering impression of Chelsea's performance, given that Reina was a spectator for most of the game.

As we all know, Man U have been scuffling along poorly in most games and were totally outplayed at Anfield. They have no consistent goalscorer, an ageing midfield, dodgy centre-backs and I foresee them losing 4-5 more games this season.

Only Arsenal have been consistent this season of the likely contenders and they have run out of steam in the past few seasons when seemingly well-placed so it remains to be seen if they can keep things going.

If we string a few wins together there's no reason why we can't turn the season around completely, bearing in mind we've been crippled by injuries so far

[DeeTheDog]

The only issue is the fixtures that they are going to miss, not the most difficult.

African Nations runs from Jan 10th - 31st

Fixtures in that time are:-

Saturday, 9 January 2010
Arsenal v Everton, 15:00
Birmingham v Man Utd, 17:30
Burnley v Stoke, 15:00
Fulham v Portsmouth, 15:00
Hull v Chelsea, 12:45
Sunderland v Bolton, 15:00
Wigan v Aston Villa, 15:00

Sunday, 10 January 2010
Liverpool v Tottenham, 16:00
West Ham v Wolverhampton, 13:30

Monday, 11 January 2010
Man City v Blackburn, 20:00

Saturday, 16 January 2010
Blackburn v Fulham, 15:00
Chelsea v Sunderland, 15:00
Everton v Man City, 17:30
Man Utd v Burnley, 15:00
Portsmouth v Birmingham, 15:00
Stoke v Liverpool, 12:45
Tottenham v Hull, 15:00
Wolverhampton v Wigan, 15:00

Sunday, 17 January 2010
Aston Villa v West Ham, 13:30
Bolton v Arsenal, 16:00

Tuesday, 26 January 2010
Bolton v Burnley, 20:00
Man Utd v Hull, 19:45
Portsmouth v West Ham, 19:45
Stoke v Man City, 19:45
Tottenham v Fulham, 19:45
Wolverhampton v Liverpool, 19:45

Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Aston Villa v Arsenal, 19:45
Blackburn v Wigan, 19:45
Chelsea v Birmingham, 19:45
Everton v Sunderland, 20:00

Saturday, 30 January 2010
Birmingham v Tottenham, 15:00
Burnley v Chelsea, 17:30
Fulham v Aston Villa, 15:00
Hull v Wolverhampton, 15:00
Liverpool v Bolton, 15:00
West Ham v Blackburn, 15:00
Wigan v Everton, 15:00

Sunday, 31 January 2010
Arsenal v Man Utd, 16:00
Man City v Portsmouth, 13:30

Week after is Chelsea v Arsenal when all the players will be back

Looking at Chelseas fixtures they would still fancy to win all those games without Drogba, Essien etc.

City and Arsenal do have a couple of tricky games though.

The knock on effect of tournament football, on hard pitches, with a huge amount of pressure on the likes of Drogba may have a effect on them for the remainder of the season.

[Exiled_red]

I was thinking yesterday that after we lost 3 games people were saying we couldn't win the title, I don't se ethe same people now saying that Man Utd can't win it

[dom9]

I was thinking yesterday that after we lost 3 games people were saying we couldn't win the title, I don't se ethe same people now saying that Man Utd can't win it

Because they are only 5 points behind the leaders.

Edit: I'm not sure people were saying that about Liverpool after 3 defeats. They are saying it now, rightly.

[red g]

actually by the next time scum play we should be 1pt behind them,

and with arsenal chelsea coming up more chance for catch up, as long as we beat the bitters.

[DannyMan2006]

If we can win our next 4 league games we will be favourites for top 4 again and may be able to creep back into the title race.

But we have a tough run of league games after the Birmingham game and we will have to be at the top of our games. As far as I am concerned we ARE out of the title race, but we can still get back in it if we can hit top form after the international break.