Premier League news: Tight at the bottom.

Premier League news: Tight at the bottom.

Eccoci al consueto appuntamento, su Citysport, con Gareth. Il nostro esperto ci parlerà delle ultime notizie provenienti dall'Inghilterra e dalla massima serie calcistica britannica, la Premier. A te la parola, Gareth.

Before Christmas the Premier League was shaping up to be one of the most competitive seasons at the top of the table for a very long time. It looked as if Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea were all going to be challenging for the title at the end of the season and Aston Villa were well placed to mount a title bid themselves. Things changed though and it now looks as if Manchester United have all but wrapped the league up, with Liverpool and Chelsea losing a lot of ground.

The bottom of the table looks a little more interesting though and there is still betting to be done on who will face the drop. West Bromwich Albion look like they’ve pretty much gone, they’re four points adrift of safety and their performances have been pretty poor to say the least. Aside from West Brom it could be any other two from a whole host of teams.

Middlesbrough have been shocking lately and I’m not convinced of the quality of their squad. I have no idea how Stewart Downing gets into the England side and he hasn’t been playing well for Boro either lately. They upset the sports betting odds this weekend though with a massive win over Liverpool (which all but ended their title aspirations) and it is results like that which can change a team’s season. Boro have a hard run in though, they face Manchester United and Arsenal in their last five games as well as a derby with Newcastle United.

Stoke City, another newly promoted team, have been grinding out results but they’re still in the thick of it. Their home form is brilliant and they’ve taken down Arsenal and Aston Villa at the Britannia Stadium but their away form is shocking. Stoke are still yet to record an away win and if they can pick up their form away from home they should be able to stay up.

Blackburn Rovers have flourished under new boss Sam Allardyce but it will still be a massive job to keep them in the league. I’ve still not been convinced by their performances but they are picking up points now and in truth their squad probably has more quality than the rest of the teams at the bottom. In Roque Santa Cruz they have one of the best strikers in the league and his goals should keep them in the division.

Hull City enjoyed a fantastic start to the season but they’re in free fall now. I just can’t see them picking up enough points to survive in their last eleven games even though they’re still three points out of the relegation places. They bought Jimmy Bullard in January but he played just 45 minutes before he was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury and that was a massive blow.

Portsmouth, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur are still not out of it but I would be very surprised if any of these teams were relegated. At a push Sunderland are still not out of danger but with 31 points they should have enough points on the board by the end of the year to stay up. The battle for the title may have been all but decided but the relegation issue is wide open and I don’t think we’ll know who is going down until the last day of the season.