Rafa reveals the number of points NUFC will need in the next 12 games to 'guarantee' safety
Rafa Benitez believes we need another 15 points in our 12 remaining Premier League games this season, believing the 40 point mark will 'guarantee' safety - with him expecting 'three or four' sides to accumulate less than that between now and the end of the season.
It has been suggested by several fans that 37/38 points will be enough to beat the drop this season with so many teams in the mix and taking points off each other, however Rafa is sticking with the magical 40-point mark.
The trouble is, it will be extremely difficult for us to achieve such a tally when you look at our inability to win games in recent weeks tallied with our difficult fixtures.
Here's what Rafa had to say:
“I think it will be 40 (points to survive). Why? Because you can see teams winning, losing or drawing,”
“But someone, any time, will have problems and then 40 points, I cannot see everybody over 40. Someone will have problems.
“I think three or four teams will be below 40, so 40 for me is a guarantee.”
We are currently averaging 0.96 points per game, with 25 points from 26 games so far, meaning we are currently on course for around 36/37 points if we kept this up.
An improvement is therefore clearly needed, but do you feel we can muster another 15 points (as Rafa aims to do) in these remaining 12 games?
A tough run. Unless we plan to pull off an upset against some of the big boys, it looks home wins vs Southampton, Huddersfield and West Brom could be key, with Bournemouth and Watford also presenting as good a opportunity as we're going to get to add to our tally.
I've got a feeling this one could go to the wire. How many points do you think we'll get from this lot and what total do you think will see us to safety?
