Monday's Breakfast Debate - with 5 games left......

[1964white]

Who has got the hardest run in?

LEEDS UNITED

Newcastle United v Leeds United
Leeds United v Wolverhampton
Burton Albion v Leeds United
Leeds United v Norwich City
Wigan Athletic v Leeds United

HUDDERSFIELD

Huddersfield V Preston
Derby V Huddersfield
Huddersfield V Fulham
Wolves V Huddersfield
Birmingham City v Huddersfield
Huddersfield Town v Cardiff City

READING

Aston Villa V Reading
Reading V Rotherham
Nottm Forest V Reading
Reading V Wigan
Burton Albion V Reading

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY

Sheff Wed V Cardiff
QPR V Sheff Wed
Sheff Wed V Derby
Ipswich V Sheff Wed
Sheffield Wednesday V Fulham

FULHAM

Norwich V Fulham
Fulham V Aston Villa
Huddersfield V Fulham
Fulham V Brentford
Sheffield Wednesday V Fulham

[1964white]

Fulham & Sheff Wed look to have the most difficult run-in on paper


Huddersfield's doesn't look easy too

[weasel]

Impossible to say in the championship. I would have said SW's looks easy with maybe just 1 tricky game v Fulham. Fulham's looks the hardest but a lot depends on how the inconsistent Norwich and Brentford play against them and also Huddersfield may have secured a play-off spot by the time they play them and be resting players, and could also be the same against Sheff Wed.

[lufc1304]

Fulham & Sheff Wed look to have the most difficult run-in on paper


Huddersfield's doesn't look easy too

Agree with this, Leon, but as weasel says, it's the championship and it's predictably unpredictable!

We've no easy games left, can't afford to take our foot off the pedal

[whiteswan]

The Wendies v Fulham game could be a decider on which of those clubs gets into the play offs. Here's hoping, it would mean were already there...

[1964white]

Agree with this, Leon, but as weasel says, it's the championship and it's predictably unpredictable!

We've no easy games left, can't afford to take our foot off the pedal

Yes very true Nick football matches are not won on paper it all depends how ones team performs on the day & as we've witnessed many times this season every team are capable of beating each other in the championship

[1964white]

The Wendies v Fulham game could be a decider on which of those clubs gets into the play offs. Here's hoping, it would mean were already there...

Yes Swan this game has always been in my mind as our possible safety net although I firmly believe we'll know our fate & have the necessary points in the bag come the final day of the season

Then we just have the small matter of the play-offs to deal with.........

[NorfolkWhite]

Looking at those fixtures we should be able to do enough to get in, did think that Fulham were going to sneak in but I reckon the top 6 as is will make up the automatc and playoff spots. End of season so hard to predict though as even the teams with little to play for can play with no pressure and put out some really good performances (much like Brentford the other night).

[John in Louisiana]

Can't fall into the "nothing to play for" trap. These guys are all professionals and they have everything to play for in every game.

And think back to your days on the playground after school. Those games meant nothing at all, but they mattered to everyone in them; we all gave our best and wanted to win regardless.

These mid- and lower-table teams will be playing hard to the end, even without relegation or promotion on the line.

Agree with this, Leon, but as weasel says, it's the championship and it's predictably unpredictable!

We've no easy games left, can't afford to take our foot off the pedal

Exactly right.

[John in Louisiana]

Huddersfield and Wednesday are the only two with three home fixtures left.

Average points of opponents still to play:

Leeds: 55.4
Huddersfield: 57
Reading 40.4
Sheffield Wednesday: 56.6
Fulham: 63.4

Reading, by far, has the easiest road, with games against bottom feeders Rotherham, Wigan, and Burton Albion. They've been the least consistent of the top seven, but that may well be a function of the fact that they haven't been playing Rotherham and Wigan. I can't imagine them getting fewer than eight points from those three games.

Fulham not only has the toughest schedule, they're playing two teams also involved in the playoff race, so they're either going to lose ground in those games or cause teams around us to lose ground. Also, our 55.4 point average is skewed by the game with Newcastle. After that, our remaining opponents have only earned about 48 points on average.

While it's the Championship and anything can happen, I fancy our chances to make the playoff.

Of course, if nearly 45 years of following LUFC has taught me anything, it's that I shouldn't count on anything. Our team motto should be "Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get you."

[Norm]

You want stats? I'll give you useless stats.

Head-to-head with the 5 realistic contenders for 3rd to 6th place

------- FUL HD LD RG SW
FUlm ____ 5-0 1-1 5-0 1-1
HUD (tp) ___ 2-1 1-0 0-1
LEDs 1-1 0-1 ___ 2-0 1-0
RDG 1-0 1-0 1-0 ___ 2-1
SWE (tp) 2-0 0-2 0-2 ___

(tp) HUD vs FUL 22/4
(tp) SWE vs FUL 07/5

[Norm]

Sorry about the spacing - don't have a web page

How the comparative points for head-to-head games panned out

------ P W-D-L F-A PTS
FULh 6 3-3-0 13-4 12
HUD 7 3-0-4 4-10 9
LEDs 8 3-2-3 8-6 11
RDG 8 5-0-3 7-9 15
SWE 7 2-1-4 5-8 7

- leaving Reading, the team which is about to be taken over by Chinese, a clear h-to-h leader at present, although Fulham could overtake them - not that it matters a crap - I did say useless stats

[1964white]

Sorry about the spacing - don't have a web page

How the comparative points for head-to-head games panned out

------ P W-D-L F-A PTS
FULm 6 3-3-0 13-4 12
HUD 7 3-0-4 4-10 9
LEDs 8 3-2-3 8-6 8
RDG 8 5-0-3 7-9 15
SWE 7 2-1-4 5-8 7

- leaving Reading, the team which is about to be taken over by Chinese, a clear h-to-h leader at present, although Fulham could overtake them - not that it matters a crap - I did say useless stats

Interesting all the same Norm

[Norm]

No doubt Stam and Kermogant would quote the above as reasons why Reading should be promoted.
They probably had 89% possession in all those games, and Stam's mouth would be active 91% of the time.

[1964white]

No doubt Stam and Kermogant would quote the above as reasons why Reading should be promoted.
They probably had 89% possession in all those games, and Stam's mouth would be active 91% of the time.

I'd love it if we got Reading in the Play-Off Final & steam-rolled the Royals shutting both of them up. Lets face it if Reading made it to the prem they would come straight back down again as could be the case with whoever is promoted

I think Newcastle & Leeds would stand a better chance of survival in the prem than the others contenders

[mav]

LEEDS UNITED

Newcastle United v Leeds United
Leeds United v Wolverhampton
Burton Albion v Leeds United
Leeds United v Norwich City
Wigan Athletic v Leeds United

15 points.

HUDDERSFIELD

Huddersfield V Preston
Derby V Huddersfield
Huddersfield V Fulham
Wolves V Huddersfield
Birmingham City v Huddersfield
Huddersfield Town v Cardiff City

12 points.

READING

Aston Villa V Reading
Reading V Rotherham
Nottm Forest V Reading
Reading V Wigan
Burton Albion V Reading

9 points.

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY

Sheff Wed V Cardiff
QPR V Sheff Wed
Sheff Wed V Derby
Ipswich V Sheff Wed
Sheffield Wednesday V Fulham

9 Points.

FULHAM

Norwich V Fulham
Fulham V Aston Villa
Huddersfield V Fulham
Fulham V Brentford
Sheffield Wednesday V Fulham

8 Points.

[1964white]

LEEDS UNITED

Newcastle United v Leeds United
Leeds United v Wolverhampton
Burton Albion v Leeds United
Leeds United v Norwich City
Wigan Athletic v Leeds United

15 points.

HUDDERSFIELD

Huddersfield V Preston
Derby V Huddersfield
Huddersfield V Fulham
Wolves V Huddersfield
Birmingham City v Huddersfield
Huddersfield Town v Cardiff City

12 points.

READING

Aston Villa V Reading
Reading V Rotherham
Nottm Forest V Reading
Reading V Wigan
Burton Albion V Reading

9 points.

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY

Sheff Wed V Cardiff
QPR V Sheff Wed
Sheff Wed V Derby
Ipswich V Sheff Wed
Sheffield Wednesday V Fulham

9 Points.

FULHAM

Norwich V Fulham
Fulham V Aston Villa
Huddersfield V Fulham
Fulham V Brentford
Sheffield Wednesday V Fulham

8 Points.

That would definitely assure us of a 3rd place finish Mav

[Norm]

Back to an earlier suggestion Ges made, maybe we should have Reading in the semis and the Wendies in the final.

I suppose, no matter who we get, the important thing is to win the post-season semi-finals and snatch/win/grab/nobble/steal by any means an unbelievable final. Then the hard work, consolidation, can begin.