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Nine in relegation battle

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The new Premier League 2011/12 football season is just around the corner – 39 days to be precise – and the runners and riders are all gearing up with the transfer market set to hot up between now and the end of August (Premier League 2011/12 – outright winner).

Six clubs are certain to retain their top-flight status at the end of the forthcoming campaign – Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham will not go down given their financial muscle – which leaves 16 other sides looking over their shoulders.

So 16 bosses will have survival as their first aim – and rightly so given the millions of pounds at stake – but we reckon five of them can relax and be safe in the knowledge they will not be a part of the relegation shake-up.

SUNDERLAND

Injuries and the sale of star striker Darren Bent to Aston Villa conspired to make the second half of last season a miserable one for Black Cats boss Steve Bruce.

Youngster Jordan Henderson has since joined Bent in leaving the Stadium of Light but Bruce has been active in the transfer market, reinvesting the cash raised on the likes of Connor Wickham, Seb Larsson, Craig Gardner and Ji Dong-won.

There will doubtless be more to follow which will be enough to keep Sunderland up for fifth consecutive season.

First game: Liverpool away

Relegation odds: 8/1

ASTON VILLA

Alex McLeish may well have taken Birmingham down last season but it appears he is well out of it at St Andrew’s given the arrest of owner Carson Yeung on money laundering charges in Hong Kong.

And while he has already lost Ashley Young to Manchester United already – and Stewart Downing looks set to go too – McLeish has guaranteed goals provided Bent stays fit.

The Villans badly under-achieved last season but their new boss will ensure the side does not rob the fans again this time around – although he is never likely to be the most popular Villa manager in their history.

First game: Fulham away

Relegation odds: 22/1

EVERTON

David Moyes has achieved miracles on a show-string budget at Goodison Park and although the days of cracking the top four may be a dim and distant memory, he’ll keep them clear of the trapdoor.

Moyes’ standing in the game will attract always players in the right price range and Jermaine Beckford will have come on greatly following his debut Premier League season.

But perhaps the biggest concern for Moyes will be keeping hold of the club’s youngsters like Jack Rodwell and internationals like Leighton Baines.

First game: Tottenham away

Relegation odds: 25/1

BOLTON

The third side with a Scottish boss and it is fair to say north of the border will still be well represented in the Premier League by the end of next season.

Owen Coyle’s rise has been meteoric after guiding Burnley to the promised land in 2009 before jumping ship to stabilise Bolton following the end of Gary Megson’s uninspiring reign.

Coyle has pulled off coups to land both Jack Wilshere and Daniel Sturridge on loan in recent seasons and he will continue in that vein to give the Trotters fans another year in the top flight.

Opening game: QPR away

Relegation odds: 5/1

WEST BROM

A left-field choice, but the Baggies will continue to prosper under Roy Hodgson who almost secured a top-10 finish despite inheriting a struggling side in February.

Forget Hodgson’s Liverpool debacle and it is clear he is an extremely streetwise boss who did a fantastic job in guiding Fulham to the final of the Europa League.

He was also brave enough to realise that they could go no further and should not be judged on matters at Anfield given the club’s change of ownership and associated issues last term.

Opening game: Manchester United home

Relegation odds: 10/3

Nine left sweating: Blackburn, Fulham, Newcastle, Norwich, QPR, Stoke, Swansea, Wigan and Wolves.

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Nine sweat over survival hopes

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West Brom’s late draw at Stoke on Monday means the battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League this season remains as tight as ever with 10 games to go for most clubs. Some experts reckon up to nine teams are still in danger of going down and here we assess who looks best-placed to hold on to their top-flight status in the crucial couple of months that lie ahead.

With Everton currently in 11th, but with a game in hand on most teams, it looks like David Moyes’s side – on 33 points – have done just about enough to stay up but everyone from 12th (Aston Villa) down could yet get dragged in.

Villa’s (1/150 to stay up) form since Gerard Houllier took over has been frustratingly inconsistent but, with the likes of Stewart Downing, Gabby Agbonlahor, Ashley Young and Darren Bent in their squad, the midlanders surely have far too much quality to go down. A win at Bolton on Saturday will probably put an end to any lingering doubts over their Premier League future.

Equally, Fulham (1/40) look to have too much to be caught in a relegation scrap come early May and the deserved 1-1 draw at Man City on Sunday shows Mark Hughes’s side will pick up enough points between now and the end of the season to maintain their top-flight status for another year at least.

The Cottagers host Blackburn (1/9) on Saturday and, if Rovers slip up away from home again, then they will begin to look worryingly over their shoulders. They still have tough games to come against title-chasing duo Manchester United and Arsenal and third-placed Man City are yet to visit Ewood Park. Wins against fellow-strugglers Blackpool and Birmingham in the next month or so will be absolutely vital or a nervous finish to the season awaits.

Out of all the sides currently in the bottom six, Blackpool (8/15) would be most neutrals’ choice to stay up, such has been the way the Seasiders have entertained in their debut campaign in the Premier League. However, wins against the likes of Liverpool and Spurs mean nothing if your defence is constantly leaking goals and, sadly for Ian Holloway, that has been the case for the past month. We reckon Blackpool will just about stay up thanks largely to their form in the first half of the season but it would be no surprise if they have to wait until the last day to make sure of safety.

So that leaves us with just two from the final five at the bottom to pick from to avoid the drop – and this is where it becomes tricky.

West Ham’s (5/6) win over Liverpool on Sunday was a huge boost for Avram Grant’s side but they must reproduce that form over the next month if they are to get out of the mire in a season in which one encouraging performance has then often been followed by a dreadful one. However, there is certainly goals in Freddie Picquionne, Demba Ba and Victor Obinna while Scott Parker and the fit-again Thomas Hitzlsperger should win enough midfield battles in the coming weeks to secure some more vital wins.

Birmingham (4/7) have a couple of games in hand on their rivals due to their Carling Cup run but how they now react to Sunday’s memorable triumph will be key to whether the Blues stay up. Certainly if they approach the games they have left in the same manner they did at Wembley then surely survival is guaranteed.

The worry for Alex McLeish is that plenty of teams in the past have switched off when winning the League Cup thinking their season has been a success already but the wily Scot will not let that happen and we envisage a final-day draw at Spurs will keep them up.

So by our reckoning, that leaves West Brom (5/6), Wolves (4/7) and Wigan (12/5) as the teams who, come May, could be forced to face up to the prospect of second-tier football once again.

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Crouch is Capello’s number nine

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Peter Crouch and Rio FerdinandPeter Crouch has been handed the number nine shirt for the World Cup by England coach Fabio Capello – potentially boosting his chances of starting the first match against USA (Crouch 5/1 to be First Goalscorer v USA).

The Tottenham marksman has edged out club colleague Jermain Defoe and Aston Villa forward Emile Heskey for the famous shirt, worn by England legends Nat Lofthouse and Sir Bobby Charlton at previous World Cup finals.

Crouch, 13/2 to be Top England Goalscorer, has got a better than one-in-two goal ratio for England – finding the net 21 times in 38 appearances, not all of them starts, and will be tough to dislodge from the starting line-up if he dovetails well with Wayne Rooney in the opening match.

Aaron Lennon (11/1) and Joe Cole (9/1 to be First Goalscorer v USA) could be in line to fill the wide berths in the opening match, with Lennon inheriting David Beckham’s number seven shirt and Cole taking the number eleven jersey.

Further clues to Capello’s starting line-up can be drawn from David James taking the number one shirt over rival goalkeepers Joe Hart and Robert Green while fitness doubt Gareth Barry has to make do with the number fourteen shirt.

Frank Lampard, who boasts 20 international goals from 78 matches, keeps the number eight he wears for Chelsea and could be a big price in the Top Premiership Scorer in World Cup 2010 market after his sensational season with the Blues.

Lampard (16/1) hit 22 goals from midfield last term, the same number as Argentina’s Carlos Tevez (14/1) and more than both Nicolas Anelka (11/1) and Fernando Torres (4/1).

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