[Albion] Four points separating 3rd from 13th

[kevo]

It's all incredibly tight, isn’t it? Lose a couple and you're hovering just above the drop zone, win a couple and you could go second.

Combination, I guess, of some of the big names struggling a bit and some of the smaller sides (ourselves, Forest, Fulham, Brentford, Bmuff) having decent starts.

Good to see.

 

[Simster]

The best thing is that of those 5 clubs with traditionally fewer resources, none of them are playing in Europe - so they all have a chance of sustaining their form. Unfortunately for us, we play 2 of them away in our next 3 games. We'll be putting 4 past Southampton in between of course, so at least we'll have 3 points there.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

It's all incredibly tight, isn’t it? Lose a couple and you're hoovering just above the drop zone,

 

[zefarelly]

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It sucks being stuck down there.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

In theory we should be well placed.
We've played all of the teams above us and 7 of the top 10.

Unfortunately it's not as simple as that.
Fulham and Bournemouth both looking really good this season.

I have faith, but the next 3 games are massive for us.
If we are still in the top 6 by then, then we will have done very well indeed.

 

[sparkie]

We struggle against sides at the bottom and have a habit of disappointing.

In that respect our most difficult games are ahead of us.

 

[Brian Munich]

It's all incredibly tight, isn’t it? Lose a couple and you're hoovering just above the drop zone, win a couple and you could go second.

Combination, I guess, of some of the big names struggling a bit and some of the smaller sides (ourselves, Forest, Fulham, Brentford, Bmuff) having decent starts.

Good to see.

Lose a couple and you're hovering just above the drop zone We could lose our next 8 and I reckon still we'd be 15th-16th at the half-way point.

 

[A mex eyecan]

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that’s a vacuum cleaner not a hoover …

 

[Albion Robster]

No reason why we can't stay inside the Top 6 until Christmas now. We have some cracking fixtures coming up.

 

[GT49er]

No reason why we can't stay inside the Top 6 until Christmas now. We have some cracking fixtures coming up.

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Yeh, Bournemouth, Fulham and Brentford............hmmm. Teams we've often struggled to put away. Plus that 'certain three points' from a home match with Southampton!
Regardless of where we finish, my season would be one of joy if we could just do the double over these (which we haven't done very often)! Oh - and Aston Villa!

 

[Simster]

Also worth pointing out that 4 points is actually more disparate than it sounds. The bottom 4 teams in that group have all lost as many games as they've won. By contrast, the rest of us are all either 5-4-2 or 5-3-3, which is markedly better. So our next opponents Bournemouth are great on their day, but their day is only every other game.

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

Yeh, Bournemouth, Fulham and Brentford............hmmm. Teams we've often struggled to put away. Plus that 'certain three points' from a home match with Southampton!
Regardless of where we finish, my season would be one of joy if we could just do the double over these (which we haven't done very often)! Oh - and Aston Villa!

Money on a home draw v Southampton will be like printing money.

 

[Deadly Danson]

No reason why we can't stay inside the Top 6 until Christmas now. We have some cracking fixtures coming up.

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Have you ever met Brighton and Hove Albion?

 

[chaileyjem]

Yeh, Bournemouth, Fulham and Brentford............hmmm. Teams we've often struggled to put away. Plus that 'certain three points' from a home match with Southampton!
Regardless of where we finish, my season would be one of joy if we could just do the double over these (which we haven't done very often)! Oh - and Aston Villa!

Yes. Our record v Fulham is dreadful. Never beaten them in the PL in 8 attempts. TBF we beat Villa last time we played them and we did the double over Southampton last time they were in the PL. Our record v Brentford isn't bad too. W 3 D2 L1 in PL.

 

[Brian Munich]

11 games in is a bit of an arbitrary measure, but coming into the international break it’s worth noting that this is our best start in the PL. Given the injuries we’ve had to importabt players and the difficulty of our opening 11 fixtures (we’ve played all of the current top 5 and only 4 bottom-half teams), this is a remarkable achievement. It really feels like we’re going to kick on in the run up to Christmas.

 

[Diablo]

If we hadn`t capitulated v Wolves we`d be third !!

 

[Stato]

This is our record after 11 games for each year we've been in the EPL. We're generally strongish starters, but this is the first season where it feels like there is more to come rather than thinking 'Can it last?'

2017/18 - Hughton - 8th - 15 points 0 GD
2018/19 - Hughton - 12th - 11 points -4GD
2019/20 - Potter - 8th - 15 points 0 GD
2020/21 - Potter - 16th - 10 points -3GD
2021/22 - Potter - 7th - 17 points - 0GD
2022/23 - Potter/De Zerbi - 9th - 15 points +1GD*
2023/24 - De Zerbi - 7th - 18 points +4GD
2024/25 - Hurzeler - 6th - 19 points +4GD

* - Corrected. See posts 30 & 31

 

[GT49er]

Yes. Our record v Fulham is dreadful. Never beaten them in the PL in 8 attempts. TBF we beat Villa last time we played them and we did the double over Southampton last time they were in the PL. Our record v Brentford isn't bad too. W 3 D2 L1 in PL.

Yeh, I know - it's all perceptions, innit! Some teams it just feels like we never beat them, or it always seems they get a skanky win or draw against us!

 

[tigertim68]

Yeh, I know - it's all perceptions, innit! Some teams it just feels like we never beat them, or it always seems they get a skanky win or draw against us!

Yet in the championship, our record against Fulham is very good

 

[el punal]

If we hadn`t capitulated v Wolves we`d be third !!

There are loads of ‘ifs’ in a football season. We didn’t capitulate against Wolves, we just made one huge error at the death. Capitulation was what happened to Spurs and Man City in their respective second halves against us.