Saints could be only a matter of eight wins from breaking the monopoly of the big clubs in the Champions league.

There are those who say that if Southampton Football Club can qualify for the Champions League, then that would be one of the biggest shocks in the history of the Premier League.

They would not be far wrong for although the likes of Everton, Newcastle and even Spurs have managed it on rare occasions, the stark reality is that 75% of the club are virtually there to make up the numbers.

But that has changed this season with Saints leading the way for the underdog and shocking the footballing world in a way that even the most optimistic Saints supporter could not have dreamed of.

Now we sit proudly in third place and although it is getting tighter at the top it is firmly in our hands.

Eight wins from our remaining fourteen games would usually be enough to give us that benchmark of around 80 points which normally gets you a top four finish.

Now that sounds an ominous target, but to put it in perspective Arsenal. United and Tottenham all need nine wins whilst Liverpool would require at least ten.

This makes our task quite clear, keep winning and we keep the pressure and onus on the others to catch us and we have a great chance to do that against West Ham at home on Wednesday night, beat them and put ourselves eleven points ahead of them and they will not be happy hammers and it would virtually guaranteed us a top eight finish.

But we want better than that, we want to be the toast of the nation, if we can take maximum points of the Hammers then that will have been a great run of games through adversity with so many injuries and it would see the squad start to get stronger as the injured return, not to mention our new signing Filip Djuricic.

This being the case then we will be stronger as a squad than at any other time in the season and if we do get Jay Rodriguez back playing near the end of the season that could be a timely boost right at the right time.

So keep the countdown going only eight wins to go.

Photo: Action Images

Sanguin added 09:43 - Feb 9 Eight wins would get us to near 70 (45 points + 24) not 80. Last year Arsenal needed nearer 80 to get fourth spot but in previous years 70 has been enough. If you look at February last season, Liverpool were in fourth and had about ten points more than we have now, so hopefully we’ll only need 70 points this year. It would be interesting look at how the teams further down the division are doing this year compared to last though to see if the league itself has a higher total point score than this time last year.

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SanMarco added 11:08 - Feb 9 One point that hasn't been mentioned much is our lack of draws. Normally you would throw some draws in to predictions like this but with Saints this season all the non-wins can be regarded as probable defeats! Would 8 wins and 6 defeats be enough? Probably not. 8 wins 4 draws and 2 defeats though...
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Jesus_02 added 11:50 - Feb 9 mmmm... would be nice, but it doesn't seem to ring true somehow as teams are queuing up behind us. If results went against us we could drop to 6th after 1 round of fixtures! The West Ham game is another massive one for us. I can see them setting up for a draw, and hoping for a smash and grab (ala Swansea). A point would at least ensure that the lowest we could get to would be 4th. Personally I think that we have a better chance against Liverpool who will be at least trying to get a win. The big thing for all involved on Wednesday is going to be patience. Fingers crossed, trying to be positive but this is really foreign territory for most saints.

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bstokesaint added 12:25 - Feb 9 I personally think West Ham will come for the win, which might suit us if we're on our game. They're on a bit of a high at the moment and have nothing much to lose. They also have the pace to hurt teams, which isn't something WH teams of years gone by have had generally. It may be a case of seeing who is more effective out of Mane and Elijah and Valencia and Sako. It's a massive game without question as it gives us the opportunity to create a bit of a gap. This was an opportunity missed against Swansea. Going along at our current rate we're looking at 71 points. With the exception of last season that is generally enough to get you the 4th CL spot. So that's 8 wins, 2 draws and just 4 defeats.

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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 13:07 - Feb 9 Its a massive ask for us to finish top 4. I think we'll fall short. When you look at Arsenal's fixtures they've got a very favourable run-in and they are starting to find form at the right time (5 straight wins before they got Kaned) and they've got plenty of players coming back from injury. They are a shoe-in for 3rd place. Spurs are coming good too, we've got to hope that the Europa League and the League Cup final provide a distraction from the league because they look strong. Its amazing where Man Utd are in the league when you consider how badly they've been playing and how vulnerable they are. But they continue to pick up points and if they start to click then they could start smashing teams. I think what will cost Saints is not being clinical enough in the final third with that final pass or finish, and not scoring enough when we are in control of the game. The only way we'll finish top 4 is if two or three players become lethal in front of goal and start taking the majority of their chances.

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davepid added 14:27 - Feb 9 We will finish as runners up , with us beating City on the last day to jump above them . Relax.
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Zambucco added 17:24 - Feb 9 I'd like to see Elia and Mane used as a twin strike force, with Tadic and Duricic in behind them. Yes no room for Pelle, I think he needs a rest also needs to know he has to fight for his place. No I'm not getting on his back, I just think he's tired, also the pace up front will be too much for WHU
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LeSaint added 20:39 - Feb 9 An average on 2pts/game does give you a good chance to qualify for the CL. To reach this we'd need to take 33pts from our last 14 games, which is a hell of a target!! However, this is nothing like an average season, and apart from Chelsea and Man City, all the so called big clubs are under achieving, so it is very difficult to predict what's needed to finish in the top 4. Let's take it one game at a time and see where it gets us. Our advantage is that we're under no pressure and have no cup games (Europe or domestic) to cope with....

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