In short, you can afford a few slip-ups on your travels as long as your home form is of the title winning variety, but you must make sure that you at least reach the 35 point mark to have any chance of challenging for the title. Forty points plus and you can look forward to a happy holiday.
Chelsea have shot out of the blocks on the road this term, winning all seven matches. With 12 games to go, they could well challenge their own record haul of 48 points from the 2004-2005 season. That said, they are yet to face any of their toughest away games, with Liverpool, Arsenal, Man Utd, Everton, Spurs and Aston Villa all yet to be visited.
They can though afford a few slip-ups in these games, but not too many if they drop many more points at home.
It is away from Anfield that Liverpool have shown the most improvement this term, winning five of seven games so far. They have also faced four of their toughest tests, winning at Chelsea and Everton, drawing at Aston Villa, and losing at Spurs.
With plenty of winnable away fixtures yet to come, Rafa Benitez will be quietly confident that his sides form on their travels can hold up to scrutiny.
Manchester United may have had the best start at home this season, but their away form has been a different story, with only 2 wins from 7 games. They are right to point out though that they have already faced Everton, Arsenal, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Portsmouth away from Old Trafford.
With Man City coming up on Sunday, and Spurs away on the 13th December, Utd would have played all of their toughest away games before the half way stage. If they can escape those two fixtures without too much more damage, they will be confident of doing enough in their remaining away games to mount a title challenge. Slip-ups must be kept to a minimum from here on in though.
Arsenal have already lost three times on the road, and still have to visit Liverpool, Man Utd, Chelsea, Spurs, Aston Villa and Everton. In short, its almost impossible to make a case for Arsenal displaying title-winning away form this season. You cannot write them off of course, but it would take a Herculean effort to figure in the title race now.
They will though play a huge role in the destination of the title. As one of the few teams with a more than a slim chance of beating the other members of the Big Four, the games between the rest and Arsenal with be of massive importance, starting with Chelsea v Arsenal on Sunday.
Most likely to have title winning away form: Chelsea and Liverpool
Still in contention: Man Utd
Staring down the barrel: Arsenal
Christmas Form
With games coming thick and fast and barely time to let your turkey go down, Christmas is always a crucial time in the title race.
In the last five seasons, across some 30 matches (six per season), the title winners have only lost two games, winning a staggering 24.
In short, if you want to win the title, you have had to win at least four of your six Christmas period matches. This time round though, we only have five games over the Christmas period, which could make it less important than usual, or it could mean that any slip-up is magnified.
So who are the most likely Christmas kings this time round?
8 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete