Take 10 points from our next 4 games, which is more than possible (draw v City, win the other 3) and then December becomes make or break. Not since 2012/13 have we gone through December in any kind of form. We were awful last season, LVG lost 3 in a row in 2015, Moyes... Moyes'd.
Its an insanely busy month. We play 7 times in the league, almost twice as many times as we play between now and 1/12. We face both Arsenal and Liverpool, but other than those 2, the other 5 are games we should be winning. 21 points up for grabs in one month. How our season goes will be decided there, as it has for the past 5 years when we have crumbled to pieces in that month.
@RedSky on your Van Dijk point, do you think a similar signing might aid our own defensive struggles this season? Liverpool are a very good example of how important defence is. they may have scored less, but have 10 more points and have conceded 13 less goals than at the same stage last season. They have scored one more than us this season, but conceded 13 fewer. If any single team right now demonstrates just how important defence is, its Liverpool.