3rd spot relegation ?

DazMarz

A very bad afternoon so far for Wigan; all the sides above them (Norwich, Sunderland, Newcastle, Stoke) all winning at the moment, and they're getting beaten 1-0 by West Ham.

Potential turnaround for both Sunderland and Stoke. Depending on how Villa v. United goes on Monday, this could be the April of discontent for Wigan and could be the season where they finally say "Adieu".

Rekop dog

Kinda glad Stoke are ahead. They've got an unreasonable amount of hate in this thread.

DazMarz

In fairness, if Stoke didn't win against QPR (a team that for all practical purposes is already relegated along with Reading) it would be really hard to see them staying up and beating anyone else. But they have obviously just gritted their teeth and got on with it. What needs to be done at this point.

Also, really, REALLY impressed that Sunderland are beating Everton! I'm slightly sickened as I had backed Sunderland to go down a few weeks ago and was confident looking at their run-in of final 8 games or so that they would not win any of them... and here they are having beaten Newcastle in St. James' and now looking good for claiming Everton's scalp. Impressive to say the least!

IvySlayer

If Stoke hold on and win, that's them safe I'd say.

IvySlayer

Wouldn't rule Wigan out yet though, just think of the QPR game

IvySlayer

Reading pull one back, typical late rush by them!!

The_Kew_Tour

Bugger

Stoke are 2 up

LuckyLloyd

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Stoke have QPR away and Norwich at home their next two games. Expect them to win both to leave the haters super salty.

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Bugger

Stoke are 2 up

Super salty

DazMarz

Newcastle are only drawing now too... Though I highly doubt they will slip up enough to go down.

And now, come what may, Paulo di Canio will be a hero of all time on Wearside. Sunderland just won 1-0.

Wigan just went down 2-0.

Norwich almost home at 2-1

Stoke won 2-0

Very bad day for Wigan. Sunderland have truly pulled themselves out of it and Norwich and Stoke have also given themselves proper breathing space. Down to between Villa and Wigan now methinks. Even if Villa lose on Monday, they're still ahead of Wigan, though do Wigan still have a game in hand???

LuckyLloyd

Wigan have a pretty brutal run in. Too close to the edge one time too many.

The_Kew_Tour

Sunderland are out of it pretty much now.

Great 6 points for them this week.

LuckyLloyd

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Super salty

Must be nice for you to have something to cheer about.



Current bottom 3 will be finishing there I'd expect.

DazMarz

I'll admit, I had something of a soft spot for Wigan, but they flirted with disaster once too often. They hold so many ignominious records in the Premier League (usually concerning goals conceded, etc.) that it boggles the mind.

I hate the term "deserves to..." when it is applied to a team that hasn't achieved something as of yet. But if ever a team deserves to go down (and probably has done many times before) it is Wigan. How they survived in the 09/10 Season conceding 72 goals and with a -42 Goal difference is beyond me.

Lloyd has it right. They lived to close to the edge and flirted with disaster one time too often and possibly though that results elsewhere might go their way. Results today could not have been much worse and they lost themselves. Goodnight, sweet prince...

legendary.xix

Sunderland are not out of it yet. Wigan have a game in hand. Sunderland are away to Villa and home to Stoke in their next two games. Two relegation 6 pointers. Sunderland's last game is away to Spurs. They'll want to be at least 4 points clear of the drop going into that game.

Paully D

Fantastic win for Sunderland today. Don't want to jinx things as there's still work to do but with home games against Stoke and Southampton and an away trip to Villa to come (along with a defeat at Spurs) I think we'll be okay.

Stoke's win unfortunately also sees them safe in my eyes. They should take something from Norwich at home next week who have probably also seen themselves safe with a win against Reading today.

Newcastle don't win away games this season and still have to play Arsenal and Liverpool at home, but I think they'll snap their away game jinx at QPR who have packed up and gone a long time ago now.

You'd have to pencil Villa in for a defeat on Monday night but I wouldn't be at all surprised if they beat us at Villa Park. Even still, I think if Wigan get a couple of wins which I wouldn't put past them that the game on the final day of the season could be huge.

Wigan's run in isn't as bad as some people are making out IMO. For example West Brom will be on the beach and if they want it badly enough there's a point or maybe more there for the taking. Same goes for hosting Swansea at the DW. I'd also give them three points at home to Villa on the final day if there's something to play for.

I've done the predictor again and come up with the below:



In the noteworthy games I've given Sunderland two home wins and two defeats, even changing one of those two home wins to a draw doesn't have any affect.

I've given Stoke a win against Norwich at home, followed by defeats at Sunderland, home to Spurs and away to Southampton on the final day.

I've given Newcastle a draw at home to Liverpool, followed by a draw at West Ham, plus a win at QPR and defeat to Arsenal. Perhaps a bit generous expecting them to go three unbeaten given recent form but either way they'll be fine.

For Villa, I've gone with a defeat at Manchester United, followed by a win at home to Sunderland and a point at Norwich, with a defeat at home to Chelsea and away to Wigan on the final day.

I've given Wigan a defeat hosting Spurs, with a point at the Hawthorns, three points at home to Swansea, a loss at Arsenal and a big win at home to Villa on the final day to keep them up.

I only updated the table at the end and expected Villa to be a point of two ahead when all is said and done so was surprised with the result I got. Maybe the cup run will take it out of Wigan and they will have finally left themselves to much to do, but either way I think it'll come down to Villa and Wigan, perhaps even the last game of the season.

EDIT - Bloody hell. I've just noticed how close I have the European spots too!

Ardent

Wouldn't write off Wigan just yet, going to be very difficult for them now but they are well capable of picking up points. Have been very unlucky not to get 2 points in the last 2 games, they are actually playing well at the moment.

keano_afc

Delighted my own team got a sneaky 3 points at Fulham, but my cough has been softened a little by Stoke's win. Gutted. Think this might be the season Wigan's luck runs out unfortunately.

legendary.xix

Easy to see why Wigan are written off after today's loss away to West Ham. I think they'll pull off a shock home win over Spurs. A win away to West Brom or home to Swansea would push them up to 37 points. With their last game at home to Villa, they'll have it all to play for.
Norwich aren't safe yet. They'll need to make sure of their home games over Villa and West Brom.

Hammer Archer

Wouldn't write off Wigan either. They were easily the better team yesterday and dominated possession for large parts of the game, they simply didn't take their chances and we did.
Until they're mathematically relegated, I'd never write them off.

LuckyLloyd

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Stoke have QPR away and Norwich at home their next two games. Expect them to win both to leave the haters super salty.

Strange this thread wasn't bumped today huh? Great to see Stoke keep the variety in the Premiership for another season. Never doubted they'd get the points they needed.

DazMarz

Norwich v. Villa takes on huge significance now.

Monday night also sees a huge game at the foot of the table, Villa entertain Sunderland. Sunderland are on a roll of late, playing well under DiCanio. This game is a huge one for both. Villa have more to lose and if they do not get off to a good start and nerves start to take their toll on their young squad, who knows what will happen. I could actually see Sunderland getting a positive result there; they'll be full of confidence on the back of their last 2 impressive wins and if they beat Villa that would practically guarantee their safety (they'd be then on the magic 40 points).

Wigan will rue missing their chances to go 3-1 up today. But if Norwich can beat Villa, that leaves them with a good chance. Add to that, Villa play Chelsea in their run in, and that will be a very difficult task for them as Chelsea will possibly need 3 points there to keep in the Top 4.

Newcastle's hammering by Liverpool also sees them slip dangerously close to the relegation zone again and it must be a real sweat for them now as they are in dangerously bad form at the most crucial stage of the season.

Tomorrow will also see one of Reading or QPR relegated (providing it's not a draw; that wouldn't mathematically consign them to defeat, but would leave both 7 points off the pace and only 3 games left to play).

It's all part of a rich, fascinating and terrifying (for those involved) tapestry.

batistuta9

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Strange this thread wasn't bumped today huh? Great to see Stoke keep the variety in the Premiership for another season. Never doubted they'd get the points they needed.

still doesn't even out the Ireland debacle of yours :pac:

Chucky the tree

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Strange this thread wasn't bumped today huh? Great to see Stoke keep the variety in the Premiership for another season. Never doubted they'd get the points they needed.

Id be surprised if Pulis lasts much longer after the end of the season.

starviewadams

Stoke

Pulis is gone I'd say,even if they do survive.

Neil3030

Stoke

MON for the Stoke job, maybe?

Amirani

Stoke

Seeing as a draw sends both teams down, why don't Reading and QPR agree to play without a goalkeeper for the last 5 minutes? Winner takes all scenario.

batistuta9

NiallSparky wrote: »

Seeing as a draw sends both teams down, why don't Reading and QPR agree to play without a goalkeeper for the last 5 minutes? Winner takes all scenario.

football weekly

Amirani

Stoke

batistuta9 wrote: »

football weekly

Yeah, makes sense though.

batistuta9

NiallSparky wrote: »

Yeah, makes sense though.

Your kind of gambling on who's got the most accurate shot though, that's all that would be happening shots from everywhere

be better i think if they both put out the 10 best attacking players they have, all out attack, leave keepers on & let them be a sweeper as well if you get me, or else last man back :pac:

Morzadec

Stoke

Why do we have 2 threads for this?

Wigan for me still the most likely.

Sunderland Norwich and Newcastle arguably just a draw away from safety (looking at the fixtures).

Final day decider between Wigan and Villa likely.

Paully D

Redknapp and Boswinga having a good laugh walking down the tunnel after the game. Very insulting to the QPR fans that.

mike65

Morzadec wrote: »

Why do we have 2 threads for this?

Cos someone didn't spot the first one on this subject!

legendary.xix

I expected Wigan to win yesterday. I saw the game as a banana skin for Spurs and it very nearly proved to be the case. Two disastrous goals for Wigan to concede in a game of such importance. It's hard to win at West Brom. Wigan will have to next week. I'm confident Wigan can beat Swansea at home. They need to be on 37 points at least when they play Villa at home on the last day. I doubt they'll get anything away to Arsenal so they'll probably have to beat both WBA and Swansea and be on 38 points going into the Villa game.

Aston Villa need a win over Sunderland and probably need to beat Norwich next Saturday.

Newcastle have two trips to London before being home to the gunners on the last day. They could be in trouble!

I'm not confident of a Sunderland win over Villa tomorrow night. I think a draw would be ok and keep the momentum going. Back to back home wins will be needed over Stoke and Southampton, to seal top flight status ahead of a last day visit to Spurs.

Norwich need to beat Villa next week. If they don't, they'll be putting themselves under huge pressure at home to WBA. They're not likely to get anything away to Man City on the final day.

Southampton on 39 are so close to the 40 points mark. I expect them to lose away to Spurs next and Sunderland to have enough as well to see them off. Stoke at home on the last is a game they should be able to get something from to survive.

Stoke and Fulham on 40 points should be safe.

Morzadec

Stoke

legendary.xix wrote: »

I expected Wigan to win yesterday. I saw the game as a banana skin for Spurs and it very nearly proved to be the case. Two disastrous goals for Wigan to concede in a game of such importance. It's hard to win at West Brom. Wigan will have to next week. I'm confident Wigan can beat Swansea at home. They need to be on 37 points at least when they play Villa at home on the last day. I doubt they'll get anything away to Arsenal so they'll probably have to beat both WBA and Swansea and be on 38 points going into the Villa game.

Aston Villa need a win over Sunderland and probably need to beat Norwich next Saturday.

Newcastle have two trips to London before being home to the gunners on the last day. They could be in trouble!

I'm not confident of a Sunderland win over Villa tomorrow night. I think a draw would be ok and keep the momentum going. Back to back home wins will be needed over Stoke and Southampton, to seal top flight status ahead of a last day visit to Spurs.

Norwich need to beat Villa next week. If they don't, they'll be putting themselves under huge pressure at home to WBA. They're not likely to get anything away to Man City on the final day.

Southampton on 39 are so close to the 40 points mark. I expect them to lose away to Spurs next and Sunderland to have enough as well to see them off. Stoke at home on the last is a game they should be able to get something from to survive.

Stoke and Fulham on 40 points should be safe.

I think you're overestimating Norwich, Newcastle and Sunderland's need for points and likelihood to go down.

For these clubs to go down they need BOTH Villa AND Wigan to put results together. This is unlikely imo. Villa possibly due to their fixtures but WIgan unlikely. Both together even more unlikely. You have to factor in the fact they play each other on the last day of the season too - obviously both teams can not win this game, so this is a huge advantage to the teams above them.

Imo, if Sunderland get a point tonight they should be fine. They will have gone another week without losing points to Villa and Wigan, 6 points clear of the drop with a very healthy goal difference. Even if Sunderland lose every match after that, Wigan would have to get 2 wins and a draw from 4 games, and Villa a win and a draw from 3 to send them down. One these matches includes Villa vs Wigan which both can't win.

Likewise Norwich - their poor goal difference means they are not quite safe yet, but a point should in all liklihood do it for them.

New castle would want to get another point or 2. One win easily enough, but failing that they should be fine with 2 draws. 1 draw or no points would leave them vulnerable if Wigan and Villa are to finish strongly, but the fact is they still would have a decent chance of surviving even if they lost all 3 remaining games.

Fulham, Southampton, Stoke are safe and should not even be mentioned. It would take a truly bizarre set of results to send them down.

Basically, for me this is more than likely a straight shootout between Wigan and Villa (with Wigan clear favourites), though I'd keep half an eye on Newcastle.

39 points and you can breathe easy imo.

Xavi6

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Strange this thread wasn't bumped today huh? Great to see Stoke keep the variety in the Premiership for another season. Never doubted they'd get the points they needed.

Just goes to show how crap the standard of the league is overall. A team that has been poison for months can get two wins and be safe

Ah well, they can always go next year instead.

legendary.xix

Morzadec wrote: »

I think you're overestimating Norwich, Newcastle and Sunderland's need for points and likelihood to go down.

For these clubs to go down they need BOTH Villa AND Wigan to put results together. This is unlikely imo. Villa possibly due to their fixtures but WIgan unlikely. Both together even more unlikely. You have to factor in the fact they play each other on the last day of the season too - obviously both teams can not win this game, so this is a huge advantage to the teams above them.

Imo, if Sunderland get a point tonight they should be fine. They will have gone another week without losing points to Villa and Wigan, 6 points clear of the drop with a very healthy goal difference. Even if Sunderland lose every match after that, Wigan would have to get 2 wins and a draw from 4 games, and Villa a win and a draw from 3 to send them down. One these matches includes Villa vs Wigan which both can't win.

Likewise Norwich - their poor goal difference means they are not quite safe yet, but a point should in all liklihood do it for them.

New castle would want to get another point or 2. One win easily enough, but failing that they should be fine with 2 draws. 1 draw or no points would leave them vulnerable if Wigan and Villa are to finish strongly, but the fact is they still would have a decent chance of surviving even if they lost all 3 remaining games.

Fulham, Southampton, Stoke are safe and should not even be mentioned. It would take a truly bizarre set of results to send them down.

Basically, for me this is more than likely a straight shootout between Wigan and Villa (with Wigan clear favourites), though I'd keep half an eye on Newcastle.

39 points and you can breathe easy imo.

I count eggs not chickens. I don't see Sunderland safe.

If Villa win tonight, I could see them on 40 points going into the last day. It'd require a win away to Norwich which is not beyond them.

I wasn't surprised by Wigan at the weekend and actually had expected them to win. They did not due to two terrible gifts they gave to Spurs. I can see Wigan beating West Brom (A) and Swansea (H), having them on 38 points going into the final game.

I'm not confident of a result for Sunderland tonight. In fairness you'd expect them to beat Stoke and Southampton at home to be on 43 points on the last day which will have them safe, or even 41 points at least with goal difference being an advantage. I won't be pleased until the deal is sealed.

Newcastle are shaky. They might only get a point from two trips to London.

Boots234

Stoke

Wigan to get relegated and to lose the FA cup final, pity because they are a good team to watch

Lennonist

Norwich

Villa will go ahead of Newcastle on gd if they can get another 1. Level on gd now but Newcastle have scored more i think.

Lennonist

Norwich

There's that goal

GLaDOS

Awful result for Wigan tonight, goal difference advantage wiped out

legendary.xix

As I feared, Sunderland are not clear of relegation yet. Some were getting ahead of themselves after two massive wins recently. A lot of work still has to be done.

Sessegnon will be a loss in the next two games. Still, Sunderland have two home games they should be looking at winning. Games should be taken one at a time. Sunderland need to respond against Stoke and get on to 40 points.

Professional Griefer

Aston Villa

ScienceNerd wrote: »

Awful result for Wigan tonight, goal difference advantage wiped out

Wigan have 3 winnable games left, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them pick points up at Arsenal. Newcastle have 2 tough away trips to West Ham, then QPR(which they should win), and a home fixture to Arsenal last day of the season. I could see Newcastle going down.

Morzadec

Stoke

Wigan is dire straits now.

Though Newcastle must be sweating a bit too.

Bounty Hunter

Sunderland

Norwich wont be exactly licking their lips at the prospect of facing Benteke and co next, now only a point ahead of Villa.

fans from the North East will be worried but I think it's the Wigan lads who might finally have left themselves too much to do esp with the FA Cup final still to come.

Morzadec

Stoke

legendary.xix wrote: »

As I feared, Sunderland are not clear of relegation yet. Some were getting ahead of themselves after two massive wins recently. A lot of work still has to be done.

Sessegnon will be a loss in the next two games. Still, Sunderland have two home games they should be looking at winning. Games should be taken one at a time. Sunderland need to respond against Stoke and get on to 40 points.

Not safe yet, but still in a very strong position imo.

It would take a very brave man to bet against Wigan at this point.

RikkFlair

BBC predictor is a good utility http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/predictor/default.stm

I predicted the scores and have the table like this after 37 games

17 Villa 38pts
18 Wigan 36pts

2 cup finals for Wigan this year perhaps

LuckyLloyd

Wigan look done tbh. Everyone gets got in the end. Never pushed on - not that that is neccesarily the fault of the manager or the players. They never really increased their wage budgets.

Patser

Wigan are now 5 points behind Villa, Newcastle and Sunderland. If Villa can beat Norwich on Saturday, Newcastle have a game against QPR soon and Sunderland beat Stoke, that'll be all 3 of them up to 40 points and 8 points ahead of Wigan.

Now in Wigan's last 4 games they have to play Arsenal in the Emirates, so I'll stick my neck out and say they'll lose that. So assuming that Villa, Newcastle and Sunderland can get 1 more win each, that'll leave Wigan needing to beat both WBA and Swansea to have a mathematical chance of survival playing Villa on the last day. Even a draw in one of those games would leave Wigan adrift.

So for Villa and Sunderland IMO winning this Saturday as good as guarantees survival and Newcastle need to beat QPR. Southampton and Norwich also need to pick up points to survive but Wigan now need wins in almost everygame coming up - while facing FA cup distraction. So 5 high pressure games, all needing results (ironically the FA cup is arguable the least important) over 15 days would have to make Wigan favourites for the drop.

Francie Barrett

Stoke

Wigan have this knack of going to top teams at the end of the season and winning. If Arsenal have top 4 secured, I could easily see Wigan winning there.

DyldeBrill

Stoke

Hopefully Wigan do a job on Arsenal for us yid fans!

Would love to see Villa or Newcastle go.