Friday 24 April 2015 18:22, UK
Soccer Saturday pundit Matt Le Tissier offers his opinion on who will stay up and who will face relegation with just five rounds of fixtures remaining.
35 points, -20 goal difference, Sky Bet relegation odds - 40/1
“33 points, maybe 34 will be enough to stay up this season and for that reason I can’t see Newcastle getting dragged in despite their terrible form. “
32 points, -21 goal difference, Sky Bet relegation odds - 10/1
“If they fail to get something get something against Manchester City and results go against them in the 3pm kick-offs then they’re right back in it. Right now they’re far from safe on 32 points but they should get out of it, with Tim Sherwood finding a way to get them scoring goals again.
29 points, -23 goal difference, Sky Bet relegation odds – 4/5
“Sunderland’s run in is a tough one and it’s a toss of a coin between them and Hull as to which one will go down. I think they will be let off by Hull failing to get enough points. I can’t see Sunderland getting anything at Stoke but then they’ve got Southampton, who they have a good record against, beating us in both cups last season and drawing both league meetings. We did enjoy a rather comfortable 8-0 win earlier in the season though.”
I'm backing Stoke to beat Sunderland 1-0 with Jonathan Walters doing the damage.
28 points, -16 goal difference, Sky Bet relegation odds - 10/11
“Hull have got a pretty horrific run-in. They will expect to win against Burnley but if they fail to get anything v Palace on Saturday, which I don’t expect them to, then that will be them done and dusted. Nikica Jelavic’s absence is hurting them and Abel Hernandez has struggled to maintain early-season form, while Dame N’Doye has come in and offered too little too late. They’ve had periods where they’ve struggled for too long and that will cost them. “
28 points, -17 goal difference, Sky Bet relegation odds – 5/2
“Leicester are the ones I think will get out of it now given their three wins on the bounce. I fancy them to beat Burney and then they’ve got three of their last four at home, which is a massive advantage. I guess two more wins will be enough, one of which will be this weekend and then they have great chances against Sunderland, Newcastle and QPR. I’d actually expect them to get nine points at least from those, which will see them to stay up.”
26 points, -21 goal difference, Sky Bet relegation odds - 1/7
“QPR may well get something versus West Ham this weekend but then they have tough games at Liverpool and Manchester City. They could well be gone by the time they get to their final two winnable games, against Newcastle and Leicester, although they wouldn’t be favourites against Leicester on current form. They’ve run out of form at the wrong time and it’s too much to ask now.”
26 points, -25 goal difference, Sky Bet relegation odds – 4/11
“A lot of people thought they would be gone by now so they deserve credit for being where they are, in terms of still being in touching distance, and you can’t write them off completely. They have now got, what on paper, look winnable games with none of the top eight in their path. None of the teams they’ve got to face are unbeatable but their struggles in front of goals could cost them. They desperately need Danny Ings to start scoring again, and it might be the case that he needs to score four or five goals to keep them up. However, I fear they may have run out of steam.”
