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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