Worst run of fixtures ever?

[noodlehair]

5 wins in 6 when one of the games was city away is pretty good going to be fair. Mostly decent performances as well. Just a shame about the two game false start

 

[croadyman]

Battle of the Brunos next. Ronaldo does like a hattrick against the barcodes

Impressive stats from Guimaraes on MNF

 

[Chief123]

After we’ve played Chelsea on Sunday, we will have played all the teams in the current top 9 in our first 11 games. That’s a brutal run of fixtures but puts us in good stead for after the weekend hopefully!

1. Arsenal
2. Man City
3. Spurs
4. Chelsea
5. Man Utd
6. Newcastle
7. Liverpool
8. Brighton
9. Brentford

 

[Chief123]

Was just having a think about how Casemiro could be eased in and struck me that we're in the middle of an insanely difficult run of fixtures.

Liverpool(H)
Southampton(A)
Leicester(A)
Arsenal(H)
City(A)
Everton(A)
Newcastle(H)
Spurs(H)
Chelsea(A)

9 game in a row with the Southampton fixture the one and only one you would expect us to win comfortably (and they've proven themselves well capable of big upsets at home under Hasselhuhtl)

Granted, Leicester/Everton have started the season in poor form but our record against them on the road has been a bit shit recently so the away games are definite banana skin to negotiate. Only won 2 of our last 8 games at Goodison/King Power.

All of which means we're playing all the favourites for the top six, plus the club most likely to break into the top six, plus two away fixtures at grounds where we have a horrible recent record .

Can anyone remember a worse run of fixtures?

Also. Total points predictions? Currently on 12 (which is pretty damn good, all things considered)

Pretty good to be
W 6 D 1 L 1

So far!

 

[Adamsk7]

Six wins, one draw and one defeat! Not bad. Get a result against Chelsea and that’s brilliant consistency, something we haven’t had for a long time

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Pretty good to be
W 6 D 1 L 1

So far!

Remarkable really. Arguably title winning form. Definitely would have been before City/Liverpool raised the bar over the last few years.

 

[Chief123]

Remarkable really. Arguably title winning form. Definitely would have been before City/Liverpool raised the bar over the last few years.

Ironically it’s the smaller clubs coming to old trafford and parking the bus that worry me more. Similar to Newcastle.

 

[dove]

After we’ve played Chelsea on Sunday, we will have played all the teams in the current top 9 in our first 11 games. That’s a brutal run of fixtures but puts us in good stead for after the weekend hopefully!

1. Arsenal
2. Man City
3. Spurs
4. Chelsea
5. Man Utd
6. Newcastle
7. Liverpool
8. Brighton
9. Brentford

Think it’s 8 teams because we obviously don’t play against ourselves but the point stands nevertheless.

 

[Samid]

Still pissed off about the two opening games. Should’ve had 4-6 points more if the pricks in charge could’ve done the summer business in time for once.

 

[Chief123]

Think it’s 8 teams because we obviously don’t play against ourselves but the point stands nevertheless.

Yeah my bad. Ironically the 10th place team is Palace which was also one of our fixtures but then the Queen decided to die!

 

[Chief123]

Still pissed off about the two opening games. Should’ve had 4-6 points more if the pricks in charge could’ve done the summer business in time for once.

I think that may end up being a blessing in disguise going forward for many years.

I’m not sure we would have gone all out to buy Casemiro and Antony if it wasn’t for the disasterous start.

The talk of protests and unrest cranked up the pressure.

 

[Samid]

I think that may end up being a blessing in disguise going forward for many years.

I’m not sure we would have gone all out to buy Casemiro and Antony if it wasn’t for the disasterous start.

The talk of protests and unrest cranked up the pressure.

Point is you need a solid structure at the club with people who know what they’re doing. The glaring holes in the squad were visible since last season. These should’ve been identified a long time ago and dealt with in May/June. Stumbling upon solutions because of a nightmare start and fan pressure is just more proof the cnuts above ETH are clueless.

 

[DancingPanda]

Think it’s 8 teams because we obviously don’t play against ourselves but the point stands nevertheless.

feck, you're right. That would have been an easy 3 points.

 

[Chief123]

Point is you need a solid structure at the club with people who know what they’re doing. The glaring holes in the squad were visible since last season. These should’ve been identified a long time ago and dealt with in May/June. Stumbling upon solutions because of a nightmare start and fan pressure is just more proof the cnuts above ETH are clueless.

Yes I agree. I feel we may end up getting a bit lucky with our panic buying.

I do think Casemiro will end up being a more suitable signing than FDJ would have been.

 

[Frank Grimes]

Considering our start in first 2 games to get 19 from next 24 is a very good return considering the difficulty fixture wise.

Even the city loss was unlucky considering we went so long without a league game and went in cold away to the best side in Europe.
Could have beaten Newcastle too but alas our finishing was bad at the end.

I think we have a decent chance of getting 2 from 3 points average this season now which will have us right in the mix for top 4.

 

[The Corinthian]

Excellent return from those games. We've only dropped points vs City (expected) and Newcastle (when we really should have come away with all 3).

The fact that we've beaten Liverpool, Arsenal, and Tottenham already, and teams we always drop points against (Everton, So'ton, Leicester) has put us in great stead for when the 'easier' fixtures come our way.

If we're hovering in / around the top 4 places when the World Cup rolls in, that'd be fantastic given our horrible start to the season.

 

[Adnan]

I think that may end up being a blessing in disguise going forward for many years.

I’m not sure we would have gone all out to buy Casemiro and Antony if it wasn’t for the disasterous start.

The talk of protests and unrest cranked up the pressure.

I don't believe we sign Casemiro and Antony if we win the first two games. Because I do believe the budget was 120m, which changed due to the defeats suffered in the first two games. And the blame is entirely on the Glazers imo.

The damage done by the previous managers and executives when it comes to recruitment and handing out contracts is going to take time to sort out.

 

[lex talionis]

It took me a couple of decades to figure it out, but I’ve learned that in the PL there’s really no such thing as an easy fixture unless you’re a club, like City today, who’s clearly superior to the rest of the league.

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

It took me a couple of decades to figure it out, but I’ve learned that in the PL there’s really no such thing as an easy fixture unless you’re a club, like City today, who’s clearly superior to the rest of the league.

There's no such thing as an easy fixture list for us anymore you're right but I do think we've had a particularly tough run starting with the Liverpool game.

Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle and Spurs at home

Southampton, Leicester, City, Everton and Chelsea next away.

After how bad the first two games were, if you'd looked at those fixtures to come you'd have been very worried for us. We've actually done well to recover.

 

[Chief123]

There's no such thing as an easy fixture list for us anymore you're right but I do think we've had a particularly tough run starting with the Liverpool game.

Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle and Spurs at home

Southampton, Leicester, City, Everton and Chelsea next away.

After how bad the first two games were, if you'd looked at those fixtures to come you'd have been very worried for us. We've actually done well to recover.

Agreed. Like I mentioned above after chelsea we’ll have played all the teams in the top 9. Plus 3 difficult away fixtures to Leicester, Southampton and Everton.

We could really put a good run together after chelsea and going into the resumption after the World Cup.

 

[lex talionis]

There's no such thing as an easy fixture list for us anymore you're right but I do think we've had a particularly tough run starting with the Liverpool game.

Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle and Spurs at home

Southampton, Leicester, City, Everton and Chelsea next away.

After how bad the first two games were, if you'd looked at those fixtures to come you'd have been very worried for us. We've actually done well to recover.

Sure, but Brighton and Brentford weren’t easy, nor were Leicester and Southampton. Everyone is tough now.

 

[Red the Bear]

Remarkable really. Arguably title winning form. Definitely would have been before City/Liverpool raised the bar over the last few years.

Extrapolated to a full season it would net us around 90 points, I say it would still get us a title if we pick up point from direct rivals.

Anyway there's still some ways to go before even thinking about a title challenge.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

I don't believe we sign Casemiro and Antony if we win the first two games. Because I do believe the budget was 120m, which changed due to the defeats suffered in the first two games. And the blame is entirely on the Glazers imo.

We bid 80 for FDJ didn’t we? So we definitely still sign Casemiro once ETH gave up on de Jong. The blame for us not having a new midfielder in place for the start of the season lies firmly with the manager here.

I agree we likely don’t go big on Antony and instead try to get him Summer 23.

 

[AltiUn]

I don't believe we sign Casemiro and Antony if we win the first two games. Because I do believe the budget was 120m, which changed due to the defeats suffered in the first two games. And the blame is entirely on the Glazers imo.

The damage done by the previous managers and executives when it comes to recruitment and handing out contracts is going to take time to sort out.

The scary thing is that the ones above EtH thought we only needed £120m to fix all the holes in the squad, after the shambolic season we just had.

 

[cyberman]

Looking it now, after those two defeats we will have played all of the top 7 from last year in the following 9 odd games after we play West Ham next week. One of those other games was Newcastle who will be top 6/7 this season themselves imo.
With the quality of the EPL Ten Hag could easily be under enormous pressure right now. It doesn’t take much for world class players to change a game their side are getting outplayed in.

 

[Borys]

Think it’s 8 teams because we obviously don’t play against ourselves but the point stands nevertheless.

Actually, we have fixtures coming where we will be our worst enemy. Tiraspol, West Ham, Aston Villa x2, Fulham until the break, then Nottingham, Wolves and Bournemouth before City in January.
After Chelsea game we only play one game with top rival until 14/01/2023 - Real Sociedad (I don't think they're top, but we rarely get results against Spanish teams and we will need one this time).

 

[Adnan]

We bid 80 for FDJ didn’t we? So we definitely still sign Casemiro once ETH gave up on de Jong. The blame for us not having a new midfielder in place for the start of the season lies firmly with the manager here.

I agree we likely don’t go big on Antony and instead try to get him Summer 23.

Agree with this.

 

[Adnan]

The scary thing is that the ones above EtH thought we only needed £120m to fix all the holes in the squad, after the shambolic season we just had.

Tbh with you mate, it was pretty clear we needed more than 120m before going into the new season. And I firmly believe it was the owners (Joel Glazer) who were refusing to make the required funds available.

If we to compare ourselves to Liverpool in Klopp's first foray into the summer window of 2016, after they'd finished 8th in the league. They only spend £65m on about 6 players but two of those players were Mane from Southampton and Wijnaldum from relegated Newcastle.

 

[SuperiorXI]

Liverpool(H) W
Southampton(A) W
Leicester(A) W
Arsenal(H) W
City(A) L
Everton(A) W
Newcastle(H) D
Spurs(H) W

Buffering...
Chelsea(A) W

That's a very good return from those fixtures... before they started I expected us to lose vs scouse, Arse, City, Spurs and Chelsea, and get some draws vs the other shite, so to be winning the majority is a great return!

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Apparently our points total since Brentford defeat is second only to Arsenal. With arguably tougher fixture list than any other club?

 

[Adisa]

Apparently our points total since Brentford defeat is second only to Arsenal. With arguably tougher fixture list than any other club?

Was thinking about it this morning. Apart from the frist two games only Arsenal and City have been better. Even oerformance wise...not just results.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Was thinking about it this morning. Apart from the frist two games only Arsenal and City have been better. Even oerformance wise...not just results.

Yet earlier this week we had multiple posts questioning ETH as manager. Mental.

 

[themanguydude]

We have the toughest first 10 fixture out of any club right?

 

[The Corinthian]

It's interesting to do a side by side to the equivalent fixtures from last season.

(H) Liverpool 2-1 / 0-5 +3
(A) So'ton 1-0 / 1-1 +2
(A) Leicester 1-0 / 2-4 +3
(H) Arsenal 3-1 / 3-1 (No change)
(A) City 3-6 / 1-4 (No change)
(A) Everton 2-1 / 0-1 +3
(H) Newcastle 0-0 / 4-1 -2
(H) Tottenham 2-0 / 3-1 (No change)

We have +9 points from the equivalent fixtures last year.

If we factor in the first two games this comes down to +3, which isn't as great obviously, but those first two games you could see that the squad was still as poor as the prior season.

 

[Raw]

We have the toughest first 10 fixture out of any club right?

2nd hardest behind Palace. Source, it calculates it based on the current position on the table and the standing of their opponents.

Our first 10: Brighton H, Brentford A, Liverpool H, Southampton A, Leicester A, Arsenal H, City A, Everton A
Palace's first 10: Arsenal H, Liverpool A, Villa H, City A, Brentford H, Newcastle A, Chelsea H, Leeds H

If you change it to the first 12 games (so all games up until ours yesterday), we have the hardest.

 

[SuperiorXI]

2nd hardest behind Palace. Source, it calculates it based on the current position on the table and the standing of their opponents.

Our first 10: Brighton H, Brentford A, Liverpool H, Southampton A, Leicester A, Arsenal H, City A, Everton A
Palace's first 10: Arsenal H, Liverpool A, Villa H, City A, Brentford H, Newcastle A, Chelsea H, Leeds H

If you change it to the first 12 games (so all games up until ours yesterday), we have the hardest.

Next 12 we have 2nd easiest, Scouse have the easiest, the pricks.

 

[Raw]

Next 12 we have 2nd easiest, Scouse have the easiest, the pricks.

I can easily see them get a crazy run of wins to put them right back up there. People have written them off too quickly.

 

[mav_9me]

The scary thing is that the ones above EtH thought we only needed £120m to fix all the holes in the squad, after the shambolic season we just had.

Tbh with you mate, it was pretty clear we needed more than 120m before going into the new season. And I firmly believe it was the owners (Joel Glazer) who were refusing to make the required funds available.

If we to compare ourselves to Liverpool in Klopp's first foray into the summer window of 2016, after they'd finished 8th in the league. They only spend £65m on about 6 players but two of those players were Mane from Southampton and Wijnaldum from relegated Newcastle.

That's why I don't have much hope for the long term. Either the glazers didn't provide the funds or Murtough and Co didn't think we needed more. Neither bodes well for the future.

 

[bosnian_red]

2nd hardest behind Palace. Source, it calculates it based on the current position on the table and the standing of their opponents.

Our first 10: Brighton H, Brentford A, Liverpool H, Southampton A, Leicester A, Arsenal H, City A, Everton A
Palace's first 10: Arsenal H, Liverpool A, Villa H, City A, Brentford H, Newcastle A, Chelsea H, Leeds H

If you change it to the first 12 games (so all games up until ours yesterday), we have the hardest.

That's only 8 games per side. Both us and Palace have only played 10 games.

 

[Raw]

That's only 8 games per side. Both us and Palace have only played 10 games.

Ah right there are 2 weeks without games, wasn't looking properly! So yeah after 12 game weeks we've had the hardest fixtures. Pretty mad.