The next two home games against Southampton and Leicester are, in my view, extremely important
and if we can win both or get 4 points from them we'll be in a very good position to stay up
even though we will face 4 away games to balance the fixtures and it may be vital in those fixtures that
we don't lose them all.

It's a good time to play both too with Southampton playing tomorrow in the Football League Cup
and Leicester short of two of their best player (Mahrez and Slimani) at the African Cup of Nations.

It won't be easy but we can but hope.

Sunderland is our 2nd home game.

Sunderland at home is in the FA Cup and although it would be nice if we could win that one as well
it's no where near as important as the two home league fixtures which I was referring to in my original post.

I don't think either Southampton or Leicester will be relishing the fixtures, both have their problems, and if we play as well as we have done at home then we should be fine.

Yeah, agreed. 4 points would be a reasonable result. 6 massive. Anything less than 3 will send this board into meltdown........

I'd be happy with 3 points from those two games if I'm honest. The run of away games doesn't look as daunting as it did before the season began as we play Swansea, Hull and Sunderland. All those three are games we're capable of winning and I believe we'll take 4 points from those 4 games at the very least (one win, one draw, two defeats). Have faith, the away form will come.

jurek wrote:Sunderland at home is in the FA Cup and although it would be nice if we could win that one as well
it's no where near as important as the two home league fixtures which I was referring to in my original post.

Although I get where your sentiment comes from, while we have a slight chance of honours we should do all we can to try and win them.

Obviously staying up would be good for finances, it doesn't go down in history. If I were to ask you the years we have achieved top flight years or the year we won the cup I'm confident which one you would be able to answer.

Although important, they aren't as big as Boro & Sunderland which has allowed us to open up a nice gap to the relegation places.

Winning both will allow us to start planning for next season (as a PL club) far sooner than we expected as we'll have at least 29 points from 23 matches and we won't drop enough points to be caught.

Southampton aren't great at the moment and Leicester have been poor for the majority of the season. These are two great opportunities to really pull away from the bottom pack. Hoping for 4 points min.

Swansea, hull and sunderland.
Whilst we obviously would love 3 pts on each game, a draw at each isn't a disaster either, as it keeps the points difference the same but uses up another game for them to catch us.
They will be thinking this is a game we can win and need to win so pressure very much on those teams.
We will be seen as one of the easier teams to get points from in the league and failure for them to collect max points will make the pts per game ratio increase just that little bit more for them
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Three points would be fine.

If we manage to get 6 points from those home games and avoid defeat at Hull, Sunderland and Swansea we're as good as safe IMO.

I'll stay with the Dyche mantra 'One game....

Rightly pleased with our Home form but I can't help but feel there are more than a few fans getting a little carried away.

FWIW I think we have enough to stay up but a couple of shrewd signings by our rivals could just upset the odds.

Worth noting that Leicester have only picked up 3 points (3 Draws) away from home this season aswell

I think Southampton and Leicester will be very tough games, despite being at the Turf. Neither team are a pushover, and Inthink we all remember the last time Leicester showed up when we thought they'd be no danger.

As for the away games, any points seem to be a bonus on the road. We could really do with a win from one of them, as it might just give the team a bit more confidence during our tour away from home later on. Could be vital

Southampton looked back to being half decent last night - let's hope they're knackered for Saturday

Not losing at hull Sunderland and Swansea is crucial - best get domestic football bail application in and prepare my liver

Leicester have yet to win away. Any bets as to when they will break their duck?

mdd2 wrote:Leicester have yet to win away. Any bets as to when they will break their duck?

Looking at our home form, they certainly won't be coming here with bags of confidence!!

I too thought Saints looked good last night, they moved the ball quickly and pressured the ball very quickly and very high up the pitch. This will be a difficult game for certain, though I am relieved that CA is still out.

I've just had a look at our fixtures. Basically, if we could average two points a game against the teams currently below us we'll be allright (39 points)...
tough task, but not impossible.

I was surprised when looking at odds today to see that we are 23/10 to beat Southampton whereas they are 6/5. Bearing in mind our home form and the fact they aren't doing great and strugling scoring, I would have thouhgt it was the other way round. Well worth a few quid on imo