bwin Sportsblog - Football - The final 6

When you look at the Premier League and the bottom few places, it looks like it is down to the bottom six now for who gets relegated. Stoke City and Blackburn seem to be clear of it on 34pts and you also expect these two clubs both to amass enough points by the end of the season to stay up. The next two below them are West Ham and Sunderland on 27pts. These two teams are only 3pts clear of the drop zone but even though Sunderland have not won in ages, I still fancy them to turn the corner and not to go down. If you accept that Portsmouth with their 9pt penalty are almost down then Sunderland are surely better than at least two of the other clubs down there. West Ham also seemed to have turned the corner so my six to go down are the teams that are occupying the bottom six places. These are Bolton, Wolves, Wigan, Hull, Burnley and Portsmouth. That list is hardly a surprise but I don't expect any other team to go down. It has been an absolute disaster for Portsmouth, coming less than 2yrs after they tasted the glory of winning the FA Cup at Wembley against Cardiff. The first ever Premier League club to go into administration and you have to ask if this will be the last? I always find the relegation scrap at this time of the season every bit as enthralling as the battle for the title. There have been some really nervous final day encounters in recent years and with the exception of Portsmouth, it could go down to the final game of the season again. It looks though as if Newcastle United may be making a speedy return to the top flight. They are 8pts clear of third place with a game in hand.