Tonight- The biggest match of the season?

[cambridgeshire canary 7,804]

Is what I have seen some people posting about. Not quite sure I buy into that- Every match from now until the end is a cup final for us if we want promotion yes, but end of the day even if we lose tonight we will still be first and have a decent 4 point gap between us and 2nd, much I obviously don't want us to lose mind.

[dylanisabaddog 6,149]

I'd quite happily take a boring 0-0. Especially now we know that Todd isn't available. 

[Van wink 2,994]

Have Brentford scored yet?

[cambridgeshire canary 7,804]

3 minutes ago, dylanisabaddog said:

I'd quite happily take a boring 0-0. Especially now we know that Todd isn't available. 

A draw tonight would be a great result.

[A Load of Squit 6,260]

2 minutes ago, Van wink said:

Have Brentford scored yet?

In Don Goodmans head they have.

[Capt. Pants 5,018]

It's the biggest in terms of the quality of opposition but it's still only 3rd March. If we win we'll be in an excellent position, possibly unstoppable, but even if we lose there is still a lot of games to play.

It's just another game and I'm sure that's the way Farke has been prepping the players. Take the emotion out of it and do the business.

German efficiency!

[Foxy2600 380]

13 points from the last 13 matches and Play-offs Assured  - 🤣

[lake district canary 4,836]

It's hugely important, but then they all are. I hope we turn up with the kind of intensity that marked some of our best performances two seasons ago as to see them off tonight would be brilliant.

I would say it is more important to Brentford - win and they draw away from the pack, lose and they stay amongst a pack that is a very competitive with Barnsley and Cardiff upping their challenge.

[AJ 1,359]

I think it is important not to lose. If we get all 3 points, great, but I think a point would be good news

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 2,035]

Theres no getting away from the 6 point nature of this game.

If we can win and be 10 pts ahead of them with 11 to go, can they win 4 more games than us from the remaining games??.

Unfortunately theres still 2 other clubs in the equation, and whilst one of them in Swansea has 2 games in hand the picture is still clouded slightly

[Alex Moss 2,167]

I expect us to win, but the beauty is that regardless, the worst off we can be is 4 points clear, and at least that would make things a bit more exciting for the remaining games.

But make no mistake, their fans know in their heart of hearts that a draw for them just isn’t enough. Watford are breathing down their neck, and Swansea already go above them if they do the business with their games in hand (if that were the case, then that would make Swansea the 2nd best side in the Championship and not Brentford). There are others threatening their position too, and 3 points is vital for them I feel if they harbour any desire to avoid what they do the worst - the playoffs.

They simply cannot afford to lose this game. And that will highly likely play right into our hands. I wouldn’t mind betting we’ll start the game slowly deliberately, letting them come forward just enough to open them up. Get the first goal and then things start becoming a bit more desperate for them.

A win for us puts us in a great position, but make no mistake, the onus is far more on Brentford. Can’t wait 😜

I reckon Max Aarons will particularly have a really key role tonight, apparently their Sorensen isn’t exactly the best tackler in the world. I hope for their sakes this Mads Bech Sorensen chap is blessed with a lot of pace and energy, or it’s going to be a very long night for him.

[HazzaJet 267]

I think this probably is our biggest match of the season. Victory will put us 10pts clear at the top though if Swansea win both their games in hand we will only be 5 clear.  A draw would be a great result but the main aim of these 6 pointers though is simply just not to lose. Victory is far more important for Brentford though as they’re already 7pts behind us, and so if we beat them tonight they will trail us by 10pts with no games in hand 

Victory for us though would be a massive boost for the chances of us sealing promotion before the end of the season

Edited March 3, 2021 by HazzaJet

[Branston Pickle 4,152]

Any game between the top two should be a decent game.  It does seem that there’s a swathe of their fans who are (over) confident and of ours who are (over) worried, but ultimately it’s just one game. They need the win more than us as things stand, but it will determine nothing - that’s for the next 13 games to decide, not just one of them.

[hogesar 10,774]

Probably the biggest game for Brentford. Not for us, we have a cushion. Doesn't mean it's not significant of course.

[Hank shoots Skyler 2,094]

Definitely less important than the Swansea game given the relative league points between the sides. 

After the Swansea loss the automatic promotion race was actually out of our hands, with both Brentford and Swansea both able to catch us - and indeed Brentford did, albeit for about 3 days 😄  

Whatever happens tonight, we will still have control over our final position. A win will however seal it in my mind that we will be going up as champions - which would be a nice feeing. And from a selfish point of view it would be great to really school them with a Boro @ Wembley or Leeds away 18/19 type performance.

But in truth even a loss would not massively hurt my confidence about our title hopes, we know we like to make it hard for ourselves!

[horsefly 5,301]

Farke is spot on when he points out that each game is of equal value. Contemplate the claim that the next 5 games are the most important games of the season; would you prefer we beat Brentford but lost the next four or lose to Brentford and won the next four? Of course we know the answer to that, but in both scenarios it shows that the Brentford game would not be the "biggest" game of the season.

[WD40 726]

Great that Farke and the players have the experience from 2 years ago to prepare mentally for these sort of games in the run in. I was at the Leeds away game which had such a massive build up around a similar time as this against a team snapping at our heels, and the lads played faultlessly. 

[TheGunnShow 7,379]

It's the biggest in terms of being able to put down a marker to the rest of the division and essentially say "right, this is ours, if you want it, come to us and try and take it!"

At the same time, if the worst happens and we do lose, let's keep a sense of perspective - it's still only three points and nothing is completely done and dusted at this point.

[chicken 3,088]

Yes and no.

I don't really think it is that huge. It may look it on paper, but at this moment in time, it may only impact on the league title. And to be honest, whether we go up 1st or 2nd doesn't bother me.

If someone asked me if I would take a bit of a slump and 2nd place right now I would.

When we have a ten point cushion it is far more about 20pts from the last 13 than it is about 3pts from any one game. As such I agree with horsefly and Farke. It's all in our own hands, the 7 games between Brentford and Bournemouth will be what determines it really if you ask me. 

[Hank shoots Skyler 2,094]

7 minutes ago, horsefly said:

Farke is spot on when he points out that each game is of equal value. Contemplate the claim that the next 5 games are the most important games of the season; would you prefer we beat Brentford but lost the next four or lose to Brentford and won the next four? Of course we know the answer to that, but in both scenarios it shows that the Brentford game would not be the "biggest" game of the season.

True, but if we could win 4 and lose 1 of our next 5, it would undoubtedly put us in better stead to beat Brentford as part of the 4 wins rather than being the single game we lost!

I don't think anyone thinks winning one game is more important than the outcome from multiple other games, but one game can surely be more important than another game individually?

Edited March 3, 2021 by Hank shoots Skyler

[chicken 3,088]

Just now, TheGunnShow said:

It's the biggest in terms of being able to put down a marker to the rest of the division and essentially say "right, this is ours, if you want it, come to us and try and take it!"

At the same time, if the worst happens and we do lose, let's keep a sense of perspective - it's still only three points and nothing is completely done and dusted at this point.

I think being 10points clear of 3rd has already sent that message IMHO. No point beating someone in 1st/2nd if you then go and lose two games on the trot to bottom 6-7 sides.

I do wonder whether this game is actually bigger for Brentford. Not just because of the title, honestly I don't think any team with any sense is at this point, but because they are only 3 points ahead of Watford and 4 ahead of Swansea who have two games on them. They need those points more than us.

[BroadstairsR 2,273]

It's massive for Brentford. A draw would be fine for us, but they would see dropping any points at all as being detrimental to their cause.

Edited March 3, 2021 by BroadstairsR

[king canary 8,763]

27 minutes ago, hogesar said:

Probably the biggest game for Brentford. Not for us, we have a cushion. Doesn't mean it's not significant of course.

Agreed.

Brentford have to win to reel us back in a bit. We can happily leave with a point. 

[Hank shoots Skyler 2,094]

1 minute ago, chicken said:

I do wonder whether this game is actually bigger for Brentford.

No doubt that it is!

[BroadstairsR 2,273]

3 minutes ago, BroadstairsR said:

It's massive for Brentford. A draw would be fine for us, but they would see dropping any points at all as being detrimental to their cause.

I will add ... 'and also their ego.' Above all others this team and its fans seem to rate themselves so highly.

They need their balloon spiking in order to bring them back down to earth. The same way that Bournemouth went.

 

[chicken 3,088]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, sometimes as fans we attach more importance to a game than is actually there.

For me there are games yet to come which could be bigger. For example, by the time we play Bournemouth we could be looking at sealing promotion whilst they are cementing or fighting for a play off position, a must win for both with 5 games left to play.

[keelansgrandad 6,680]

I don't think its the biggest. The one that guarantees promotion will be but in terms of the damage we can inflict on others, it is important.

Brentford cannot come for a draw and it should be a good match rather than us butting horns against 8 defenders.

Shame about Todd as he is perfect for an end to end game whereas Onel does tend to just hug the touchline.

These are the games you look forward to. Midweek under lights against a rival. Sad no-one can get in to watch it.

[horsefly 5,301]

4 minutes ago, Hank shoots Skyler said:

True, but if we could win 4 and lose 1 of our next 5, it would undoubtedly put us in better stead to beat Brentford as part of the 4 wins rather than being the single game we lost!

I don't think anyone thinks winning one game is more important than multiple games, but one game can surely be more important than another game individually?

I certainly see your point there but still side with Farke's view that the best approach is to see all games as having equal importance. Perhaps there's a genuinely deep and interesting philosophical question underlying this debate regarding the degree in which it is possible to abstract the importance of an individual game from the totality of games played over the entire season. Let's assume for the sake of argument that we all agree that 95 points guarantees automatic promotion. Would it matter in the slightest who we beat to achieve those 95 points? Would any of those points represent "bigger" points than the others? At the same time I recognise your point that a victory for City tonight would increase the gap between us and Brentford. So perhaps the "correct" answer to this question is that it is both "the biggest" and "not the biggest" game of the season depending upon the perspective from which one views it. Now if that isn't a proof of the Postmodern world view I don't know what is.

[TheGunnShow 7,379]

24 minutes ago, chicken said:

I think being 10points clear of 3rd has already sent that message IMHO. No point beating someone in 1st/2nd if you then go and lose two games on the trot to bottom 6-7 sides.

I do wonder whether this game is actually bigger for Brentford. Not just because of the title, honestly I don't think any team with any sense is at this point, but because they are only 3 points ahead of Watford and 4 ahead of Swansea who have two games on them. They need those points more than us.

I can see why you'd think that, but there's no clearer way - IMO - of sending it than whacking your probable closest rival.

[Petriix 3,222]

Tonight's game is more about the psychology than the points. This is actually our most difficult remaining fixture against the second best team in the league. If we're going to lose to anyone then this is the most likely one. So a defeat would neither be entirely unexpected or a significant blow.

The fact remains that, in all but one of the last 30 or so Championship seasons, 90 points is enough for promotion and that means we need just 20 more points which is 6 wins and 2 draws.

I would argue that it's the 7 games against bottom-half opponents that follow which are where we would expect to pick up the bulk of our points. 5 wins would leave us requiring 5 points from our final 5 fixtures.

Tonight's game is about the spotlight and the pundits. It's not really a big deal for us. We've already lost to Bournemouth, Watford and Swansea. The way we've quietly and efficiently gone about winning our less glamorous fixtures means we don't actually have to beat these sides.

There's no pressure on us. It's a free hit tonight.