You can't use the term bottling it with Leicester. They shouldn't even be in this position. Even if they do slip up, what they've done is incredible.
Funnily enough I think Spurs look more likely to bottle it than them!
Leicester's next 6 fixtures
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
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Funnily enough I think Spurs look more likely to bottle it than them!
Would love Leicester to win but Spurs winning has a great shine too and that's to watch Claude et al combust 
If anything Leicester can use their experience from last year to good effect here. Then it was must-win to stay in the league, now it's must-win to win the league. That combined with the 5 point gap means Leicester should be clear favourites.
How the hell do they keep winning games...they got a defence that consists of Simpson, Morgan, Huth and Fuchs for christ sake.
You monster.Would love Leicester to win but Spurs winning has a great shine too and that's to watch Claude et al combust
I think its a case of nerves for Leicester but also that perhaps teams are finally figuring them out as they are just grinding out results now.
Arsenal needs to win their next game - Everton away , to remain in the title race. They will lose to Barca at Nou camp and another defeat in the league would end their season IMO.
Pretty sure they're going to win it now!
Hard to see them losing it now. They've got harder tests to come but tonight was very comfortable.
Solid defence, high energy midfield and a fast direct attack. Simple but very effective.
Solid defence, high energy midfield and a fast direct attack. Simple but very effective.
Desire and confidence, I suspect. Things absent from our team.
Bigger than the sum of their parts that defence.
Plus Kante and drinkwater in midfield provide great support.
fixed it for you.
The same defence plays 90 minutes of every match and create a great understanding. In addition to having the same 2 central midfielders in front of them.
Chelsea and Southampton were similar last year.
Compare that to us where we have Smalling Blind (a worse CB than either Morgan or Huth) and 2 randomly generated fullbacks which change every game.
Aye... They have two centre backs who are centre backs, a left back who is a left back, and a right back who is a right back... Quite the novel idea really.
Morgan and Huth together remind me a bit of Scott Dann and Roger Johnson when they were at Birmingham... Nothing special apart but excellent together. Wes Morgan in particular has stepped it up massively this season.
The Kante twins in front of them is also a massive help.
It also helps that they've had next to no injuries this season. They're practically playing the same team all season.
At first I felt like they weren't going to do it, but looking at Spurs' fixtures... It'll be tough to see Spurs overtake Leicester. They have Liverpool (away), United (home), Stoke (away), Chelsea (away), Southampton (home) and then end with Newcastle away. Bournemouth and West Brom at home are the only 2 that seem like routine wins. Being generous, I can see them getting 75 or 76 points max.
Meaning Leicester would need 13 points to win the title from 8 games. From palace (away), Southampton (home), sunderland (away), West ham (home) and swansea (home), think they'll need at least 10 from that, leaving them needing 3 points from the United, Everton and Chelsea group of games.
Both City and Arsenal are too off the pace. They aren't winning it.
Meaning Leicester would need 13 points to win the title from 8 games. From palace (away), Southampton (home), sunderland (away), West ham (home) and swansea (home), think they'll need at least 10 from that, leaving them needing 3 points from the United, Everton and Chelsea group of games.
Both City and Arsenal are too off the pace. They aren't winning it.
RED ZONE ALERT! RED ZONE ALERT! TOO MUCH MATCH RHYTHM!
So true.Still got a sick feeling Leicester will have a string of defeats while Arsenal have a string of victories. Couldn't cope with that disgusting club winning the title.
I don't see why everyone keeps saying those three games at the end will be the hardest. Leicester might be under the most pressure by then if they're still top (which I think they will be), but United, Everton and Chelsea only look good on paper. Everton can be awesome or very disappointing, you never know which side will turn up. Chelsea might have nothing to play for and lesser teams than Leicester have proven these last two seasons it isn't impossible to come and snatch a win at Old Trafford. Those three teams all have had very underwhelming seasons and if anything, Leicester perform better against the so-called big boys because they can play their counter-attacking football. Imo they'll struggle more in games like Sunderland away, facing an Allardyce-led team fighting against relegation where they have to control the tempo of the game. Couldn't watch their game tonight but a 1-0 against a dreadful Newcastle doesn't exactly suggest things went easy either.
There are no easy games left at this stage of the season but they've got a favorable fixture list, the five point gap and momentum going unlike City and Arsenal. I'd say they are clear favourites at this point with Spurs being their only challengers.
Sad thing is the only this people were right about on the first page of this thread, is our chances... of doing anything.
Spurs are definitely their only challengers. City and Arsenal are out of the race, don't feel like I'm jumping the gun at all saying that. They basically need to go perfect from now on, which there is absolutely 0 sign of happening.
As for the last 3 games... It's something that can easily go to shit with all the pressure and them massively overperforming all season. It's exactly the type of fixtures which can come back and bite you in the ass. As you say, all 3 teams have had disappointing seasons, but all 3 teams should be beating a team like Leicester when playing at home (everton is away I think, so Leicester should fancy themselves). No matter who comes to Old Trafford in the premier league, they aren't favourites to win, even if United is a bit shite these days. It's just the way it is. It's not like they'll lose all those tough games, but they definitely have a better chance of grinding out a win against relegation candidates compared to playing away to the so called big sides.
Until Leicester are mathematically impossible to catch, I don't think you can rule anyone out. The wave of momentum they are riding can end really quickly just like Liverpool's did when Jose went to Anfield with a reserve team and won. I think it's premature to write Arsenal and City off just yet. They have the talent to bridge that gap.
One thing I will say is the lack of a deserving title winner from the "big" clubs means Leicester (or Spurs) deserve to win it. This is the worst standard of top teams in the Premier League for a very long time. It's like a battle for 4th but teams 1-3 decided not to bother participating in the league this year.
One thing I will say is the lack of a deserving title winner from the "big" clubs means Leicester (or Spurs) deserve to win it. This is the worst standard of top teams in the Premier League for a very long time. It's like a battle for 4th but teams 1-3 decided not to bother participating in the league this year.
I think it's perfectly fine to write us off. It's about the one predictable outcome even in a mental season like this one.
I dont think its over yet.
We (United ) were 8 points clear with 5 games to go after equal games played with City in 2012, and still bottled it. And that was with players that had won titles before.
If you can get a good result and perfomance at the Camp Nou ( a draw counting as a good result, it could still Spur you on.
Leicester are under pressure, it may start to show. And Spurs are notorius chokers. And its not like you guys, because with them, its a multi-generational thing.
It's not just 1 team in front though. They need Leicester, Spurs and City to basically feck up sufficiently and Arsenal to go almost perfect (when they have away games to Everton, West Ham and City to come). It's not happening.
Huge win last night against a relegation battler with a new manager at the helm. People keep doubting them and they keep doing it.
Palace (A)
Soton (H)
Sunderland (A)
West Ham (H)
Swansea (H)
8-9 points from those should be enough to keep them at the top. Can't see Spurs getting more than 8-9 in their next five.
Palace (A)
Soton (H)
Sunderland (A)
West Ham (H)
Swansea (H)
8-9 points from those should be enough to keep them at the top. Can't see Spurs getting more than 8-9 in their next five.
Leicester winning the Prem would be the greatest sports achievement I've ever seen. It's just unbelievable when you think about it.
Easily trumps Greece's Euro win for me.
Easily trumps Greece's Euro win for me.
One word - momentum.
I'd expect them to win 2-3 of these at least. Home games right now will be a huge advantage for them as they will get immense support of crowd and they do quite well away from home with their counter attacking brand of football.
Ours and Leicester's run ins are actually very similar now. And from this Thursday onwards, we'll have no more Europe either, so straight 8 games to the end.
I'm not sure I can see us picking up 5 points more than them in the next 8 games. Then again, far far stranger things have happened. Man Utd losing a 5 ?or 8? I cant remember point lead to Man City in a smaller time frame.
They've got the look of champions about them at the moment. Not playing very well, scraping wins, scoring with their only shots on target etc etc.
We'll see anyway. Incredible achievement from them regardless of where they finish this season. They're guaranteed CL next season now.
I'm not sure I can see us picking up 5 points more than them in the next 8 games. Then again, far far stranger things have happened. Man Utd losing a 5 ?or 8? I cant remember point lead to Man City in a smaller time frame.
They've got the look of champions about them at the moment. Not playing very well, scraping wins, scoring with their only shots on target etc etc.
We'll see anyway. Incredible achievement from them regardless of where they finish this season. They're guaranteed CL next season now.
They should win Palace and Swansea. You can never be sure which Southampton team is going to show up. Sunderland is a tricky fixture this time of the season as they miraculously regain their form at this stage, and West Ham can be another tough fixture, especially if they are in running for UCL spots after 4 weeks.
If Leicester are to win, I want them to win at Everton-2nd last game of the season, just to see John Terry give guard of honour in his last Chelsea game to Leicester City
I have no idea why people have Everton at home as some unwinnable, extremely tough game when they outplayed them comprehensively at Goodison. Trips to Old Trafford and Stamford are always slightly difficult as you never know when United or Chelsea will turn up but they're capable of winning these too. If they can keep the current distance to 2nd until the final three games, they will be almost there.
I agree that games like Sunderland will be the toughest. Definitely don't expect them to win the next 5 (though if they do, it's curtains).
Also not hung up on one having to be left footed and one having to be a passer
Leicester City at the Bernabeu, I can't fathom it.
Really want them to win it, lets hope they don't Arsenal it.
Didn't they have one game in hand? The big difference was we played each other and we opened the door by loosing away to Wigan. That should have been a draw before we played them so we could still have lost to city and stayed top
I still have a feeling Arsenal can do it. They're an amazing team when they have nothing to play for and they could easily go on a run of 4-5 wins.
I think we were equal on games.
I remember that because the game City played to catch up in terms of games with us was their away trip to Arsenal were they lost 1-0. I really thought that was it.
Wigan was bad, but the game that cost us the title was Everton at home. 2-0 and 4-2 up at one stage, we ended up drawing 4-4 with Fellaini tearing us a new one.
I knew at that point that the title was gone.
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