Will we qualify for the CL?

[Mellin]

How fucking good is it to be looking down on Liverpool, United and Chelsea, with 18 games left, and thinking they haven't got it in them btw? Been a long time coming.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

If we can have CL tied up with 5 games to go, it will allow us to concentrate on a possible 3 semi finals and 2 finals in 26 days. Assuming that we are not still in for the title.

[teamvillage]

40 points from 18 is basically title-winning form if sustained over a season. If, miraculously, BOTH Chelsea and ManU do that, we need 10 wins.

[Chip Butty 111]

How fucking good is it to be looking down on Liverpool, United and Chelsea, with 18 games left, and thinking they haven't got it in them btw? Been a long time coming.

...whilst we have our hands tied behind our back financially....remarkable

[DB]

40 points from 18 is basically title-winning form if sustained over a season. If, miraculously, BOTH Chelsea and ManU do that, we need 10 wins.

…and with our home record, only Liverpool and possibly Chelsea are best placed to take points off us. So, only a few away wins needed. If only it were that simple.

[Skipper_The_Eyechild]

If MON was still manager then I'd be worried, but we have the Don so I'm not.

[eamonn]

Imagine being Celtic and begging for O'Neill to come back. LOL!!!

[PhilVill]

70 points will do this year, especially as 5th will get a CL place too. Long way to go  yet but it should be well within reach. Our target should be third and 75 points.

[Drummond]

Why should we only aim for 3rd?

[Chap]

Why should we only aim for 3rd?

Free hit mentality kicking in again🤔

[Demitri_C]

How fucking good is it to be looking down on Liverpool, United and Chelsea, with 18 games left, and thinking they haven't got it in them btw? Been a long time coming.

Its very fucking good. It would take a spectacular  collapse to blow it now. Its likely there will be 5 teams in CL are we really at worst likely to finish 6th?

We have a wonderful  opportunity  for 3rd or even 2nd. Catching arsenal will be too much of a stretch and we dont a
have the squad. But  man im absolutely  thrilled how things are going

[rob_bridge]

Looking better with each passing week.

70 would be guaranteed.

67 enough if 5th.

Good that other than Arsenal the others have to go hard on next 2 games in ECL to get top 8. 

[Smithy]

Looking better with each passing week.

70 would be guaranteed.

67 enough if 5th.

Good that other than Arsenal the others have to go hard on next 2 games in ECL to get top 8. 

The year Leicester won the league, they could have won it with 72 points (they got 81 in the end).  I think 80 points is not entirely beyond us, and then who knows...?

[Dave]

Looking better with each passing week.

70 would be guaranteed.

67 enough if 5th.

Good that other than Arsenal the others have to go hard on next 2 games in ECL to get top 8. 

The year Leicester won the league, they could have won it with 72 points (they got 81 in the end).  I think 80 points is not entirely beyond us, and then who knows...?

That did require the team in second to lose seven matches and draw eleven across the season though - a similar scenario would mean Arsenal would only win another five matches between now and May.

[algy]

Looking better with each passing week.

70 would be guaranteed.

67 enough if 5th.

Good that other than Arsenal the others have to go hard on next 2 games in ECL to get top 8. 

The year Leicester won the league, they could have won it with 72 points (they got 81 in the end).  I think 80 points is not entirely beyond us, and then who knows...?

Agreed - there's fewer points between us and Arsenal (6pts) than us and Liverpool (8pts), who are in 4th.  Had it not been for the summer disruption there's every chance we'd be top - although I think being slightly off it at the moment could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

We're far enough ahead of Manchester United and Chelsea now that it'd take a monumental drop off (or them going in to stellar form) for us to finish outside of the top 4.  Not to say that can't happen, of course, but our position seems to get stronger with every passing week.

Qualifying comfortably for the Champions League would be a huge achievement, and I'll be chuffed if that's what we end up doing this season.  It'd go far beyond what I'd have expected before the start of the season.

But I'd hope that as a club we'd see 2nd as eminently achievable, and 1st as within reach.  The pressure will build over the 2nd half of the season, but we've not got the expectation of success that Arsenal and Man City have.  That might end up working in our favour.  Keep pace with them, and we'll find out if it is.