premier league relegation

Well, this is it for the teams involved in 2010/11 Premier League relegation betting. Birmingham, Blackburn, Blackpool, Wigan and Wolves are not certain of their futures, but they can all control their own destiny to some degree. No further chances, it is all on the line for the teams threatened by Premier League relegation. Betting will be running amok this week, and punters book a flurry of wagers on the final action of the domestic season. The hapless Hammers have already bitten the dust, so the race is on now for the other five relegation threatened clubs, not to join West Ham in the Championship next season. It looks as if Wigan, Wolves and Blackpool have been saving their best till last, so the final day of the 2010/11 Premier League relegation betting battle, could go in any direction. Birmingham City look in a bit of a desperate situation and Blackburn are not clear of the woods just yet. It should be an enthralling ninety minutes around the country on Sunday afternoon.

West Ham Utd – 33 points from 37 games

West Ham 2010/11 Premier League Relegation Odds: It’s over, they are down. Still, good value to beat Sunderland on the last day.

Away to Chelsea (L) – Correct!
Away to Man City (L) – Correct!
Home to Blackburn (D) – Correct!
Away to Wigan (L) – Correct!
Home to Sunderland (W)

Wigan – 39 points from 37 games

Wigan 2010/11 Premier League Relegation Odds: 4/5 at Boylesports
 
The victory over West Ham was the big lifeline that Wigan needed. Still, the 3-2 win was a bit close for comfort for them, but those three points were so very precious. Wigan are still second from bottom, but with that win are just one point from safety as the table sits at the moment. They have a tough away fixture to run out with, but their form may suggest that they are good enough to get a point. Who knows how interested Stoke will really be for this one after getting hammered by Man City recently. It is all on the line for Wigan now, who have struggled all season. They do pull out a lot of drawn matches over the season, but really, because of their worse goal difference out of all the relegation threatened teams, they need a win to make sure. Sure if they get a point and Blackpool and Birmingham lose, it won’t matter for Wigan as a draw would be enough. However if those other two teams draw along with Wigan, then Wigan’s goal difference will send them down. When all is said and done, they beat the Hammers yes, but tough to see them winning at Stoke. Stoke don’t roll over easily at the Britannia Stadium, so a draw would probably be Wigan’s best hope here.

Away to Sunderland (D) – wrong, lost 4-2
Home to Everton (L) – wrong, drew
Away to Villa (L) – wrong, drew
Home to West Ham (W) – Correct!
Away to Stoke (D)

Wigan Relegation Betting Tip: Wigan do not have many goals in them. They broke the bank a bit last weekend putting three past West Ham. Stoke are a much tougher proposition and a draw looks like Wigan’s best result there. It may be a point, but it could be a vital one with results going their way. Just enough to stay up.
Projected total: 40 pts

Blackpool – 39 points from 37 games

Blackpool 2010/11 Premier League Relegation Odds: 2/5 at UniBet
Have to be honest, but Blackpool weren’t still supposed to be in the race for survival by this point. They have exceeded their own expectations really in trying to stay up. They are now unbeaten in their last four, with three draws and a previous win. The win was a bit of a surprise to be honest, as they squeezed past Bolton 4-3 in a thriller. It sums up Blackpool really. They know where the goal is, but they just cannot keep them from going in at their end. Fans will remember the heroics they performed when they took a 2-0 half time lead against Manchester United earlier in the season. That match ended in a draw, but this return fixture is at Old Trafford. The Red Devils have the league sewn up, have the Champions League final to look forward to. Blackpool’s best hope is if Alex Ferguson fields a very weak side, otherwise, even a half strength United team should win. The signs don’t look good for Blackpool, as this last fixture of the season for them is a nightmare. At least they can just go for it and give the fans a brave treat.

Home to Newcastle (D) – correct!
Home to Stoke (L) – wrong, drew
Away to Spurs (L) – wrong, drew
Home to Bolton (D) – wrong, lost
Away to Man Utd (L)

Blackpool Relegation Betting Tip: Blackpool have been a bit hard to call, as they have picked up some unlikely points. They have given themselves every chance of staying up, however the final day of fixtures will work against them. Likely to get beaten, leaving them just shy of safety. A valiant effort all round, but back to Championship football for them.
Projected total: 39 pts

Wolves – 40 points from 37 games

Wolves 2010/11 Premier League Relegation Odds: 8/1 William Hill
Mick McCarthy’s men just won’t lie down. A solid 3-1 win at the Stadium of Light against Sunderland last weekend was a welcome and probably unexpected three points for Wolves fans. They are now unbeaten in their last three, but more importantly are carrying the momentum of back to back wins. Another one would see them safe. They take on Blackburn, on who they are level with points just above the drop zone. Wolves have to go for another win, as a point may not be enough because of a worse goal difference than Blackburn. They are not out of the woods yet. Can a relegation threatened team pull off a Houdini of three wins on the bounce? They have home advantage against the struggling Rovers, but can see it ending in parity. Really only a win is good enough for them not to have to rely on other results bailing them out, but if they get the draw, Birmingham and Blackpool do not look like likely winners, so Wolves can survive by the skin of their teeth. Have to be good for a point at home.

Home to Fulham (D) – correct!
Away to Stoke (L) – correct!
Away to Birmingham (D) – correct!
Home to West Brom (W) – correct!
Away to Sunderland (L) – wrong, won
Home to Blackburn (D)

Wolves Relegation Betting Tip: Wolves have really been on the relegation betting bubble all the while. They have scrapped tenaciously to clutch to safety with fingernails. A win in front of their home crowd will guarantee Premier League football, but Rovers are in the same boat and could well settle for a draw and hope their goal difference is enough to stay up. Fiery encounter expected, and a draw.
Projected total: 41 pts

Blackburn – 40 points from 37 games

Blackburn 2010/11 Premier League Relegation Odds: 12/1 at William Hill
Well, Rovers are a point better off than we expected them to be here. That is because they managed to earn themselves a commendable draw against Manchester United at Ewood Park in their previous match. Without that, they would have been in an even more perilous situation. They have an advantage over the other relegation threatened teams, in that they have a far superior goal difference. If Rovers lose, for Blackburn to go down, they would need two of the teams below them (Wolves aside) to pick up wins. So any two of Birmingham, Blackpool and Wigan would need to pick up more than a point to get Rovers relegated. One final battling draw of the season will probably be enough for them.

Home to Man City (L) – correct!
Home to Bolton (L) – wrong, won
Away to West Ham (D) – correct!
Home to Man Utd (L) – wrong, drew!
Away to Wolves (D)

Blackburn Relegation Betting Tip: Should just about be safe, but they have been treading far too thin a line. The new owners must invest next year.
Projected total: 41 pts

Birmingham City – 39 points from 37 games

Birmingham 2010/11 Premier League Relegation Odds: 7/10 at Bwin
Carling Cup champions they may be, but relegation candidates they also are. Birmingham are in the worst form of the five threatened teams, and there is a realistic chance that they will be going down. This would have been a little unrealistic about six weeks ago, but not winning in their last five matches, losing four and drawing just one, has really put Alex McLeish’s men in danger. They do hold a slender goal difference over Blackpool and Wigan, who are both on the same points as Birmingham at the moment, but Birmingham need to match or better what both of them do to keep themselves alive. Being the low scoring team which they are, the signs aren’t great for Birmingham to be honest, and going away on the final day to White Hart Lane, to face a Spurs side who need a win to guarantee themselves a Europa League place, it’s not easy. Certainly don’t see a Birmingham victory anyway. That means they could be banking on Blackpool losing at Old Trafford, and Wigan slipping up away at Stoke. Birmingham will most likely be relying on other results for them to stay up. One thing is for sure, that Birmingham won’t want to get beaten heavily, and have their goal difference advantage wiped out. Tense.

Home to Fulham – D – wrong, lost
Away to Tottenham – L

Birmingham Relegation Betting Tips: Really in danger of falling into the Championship. Don’t see them winning at Spurs, and even if they stuck it out for a draw, it may not be enough.
Projected total: 39 pts

2010/11 Premier League Relegation Battle Projected Finishing Positions

16th Blackburn 41 pts
16th Wolves 41 pts
17th Wigan 40 pts
18th Birmingham 39 pts
19th Blackpool 39 pts
20th West Ham 36 pts

Four teams beginning with the letter ‘W’ and three teams beginning with the letter ‘B’ make up the seven sides that will be scrapping against relegation between now and the end of the season.

Blackpool’s 3-1 defeat to Chelsea on Monday night means that the Tangerines are now the second favourites for the drop, with the bookies quick to slash the odds on Ian Holloway’s team. A few weeks ago, you could have got 3/1 about the seaside club and now the best price is even money (bet365).

Blackpool’s next Premier League match is a trip to Ewood Park to face another side who are firmly at the wrong end of the table and Rovers have lost four of their last five matches. Perhaps they will be made to pay for sacking Sam Allardyce midway through the season and Steve Kean has been given the dreaded vote of confidence.

Blackburn were available at 12/1 for the drop when Allardyce was relieved of his duties, although those odds have now shrunk to 10/3 with bet365 and the Lancashire side are just two points above the relegation zone.

The third ‘B’ in a pickle is Birmingham City, the Carling Cup winners who seemed drained when it came to facing West Brom last Saturday and their 3-1 defeat means that Alex McLeish’s team now occupy a berth in the dreaded drop zone.

McLeish is worried that a long season might be taking its toll, especially as they remain in the FA Cup with a quarter final match at home to Bolton taking place this weekend. Wednesday’s trip to Everton is more important and City are 5/2 (Sportingbet) to be relegated.

However, it is the four teams beginning with the letter ‘W’ that are among the first five in the Premier League relegation betting and the writing appears to be on the wall for Wigan Athletic.

Roberto Martinez’s team are now four points adrift of safety with an inferior goal difference to the teams directly above them and the Latics will need to win five of their remaining nine matches to stand any chance of survival. The best odds about them being relegated is 2/7 with bet365.

It was West Ham United that seemed doomed at the start of 2011 and the board allegedly tried to bring in Martin O’Neill to replace Avram Grant, although the latter remains in charge and has seen his team comprehensively beat Liverpool and Stoke.

The Hammers aren’t out of the woods by a long stretch and a Birmingham draw / win at Goodison Park would leave them back in the bottom three. Perhaps they are a value bet to go down at odds of 13/8 (Coral).

Then we have the two Black Country teams – West Brom and Wolves. The Baggies have made a decent start under Roy Hodgson, having collected five points from three matches and they are out to 15/8 (Skybet) for relegation. Wanderers are shorter at 5/4 (Skybet).

It hasn’t take long for some of the bookmakers to start quoting odds-on that Chelsea retain their Premier League title this season. The Blues have won their first four matches of the season and, although they have been against relatively easy opposition, bet365 offer 5/6 that Carlo Ancelotti’s team are victorious again.

You can get even money with Paddy Power, although that may well disappear after Blackpool have visited Stamford Bridge on Saturday, something which is likely to see Chelsea collect another three points and potentially another hatful of goals.

Manchester United are looking vulnerable in defence right now and can be backed at 11/4 with bet365 to regain their title, although it should be remembered that the Red Devils are notoriously slow starters who tend to improve as the campaign wears on.

Arsenal are 5/1 with Sky Bet after a bright start and we can already start to be confident that the title race is no more than a three-team one, with Manchester City (14/1 Sky Bet) continuing to look defensive under Roberto Mancini.

That hasn’t stopped the bookies offering 8/11 (Paddy Power) that City finally get to experience Champions League football after such a massive investment of cash, although defeat at Sunderland and a draw at home to Blackburn would suggest that there’s progress that needs to be made if the dream is to be realised.

Tottenham Hotspur are available at 3/1 (Blue Square) to book their place in the Premier League top four again, while Liverpool are 15/8 (Bet Fred) to return to the European premier club competition, although the signs are not looking good for Roy Hodgson or his Reds team.

Looking at the other end of the table and there are once again any number of teams that can be relegated from the top flight this season. Blackpool remain odds-on favourites (4/7 Blue Square) despite wins away to Wigan and Newcastle which have elevated the Tangerines into the top half of the Premier League.

Wigan have had a shaky start to their campaign and time will tell whether that win at White Hart Lane was a freak victory or has set the Latics on the road to improvement. My personal opinion is that the even money is a value proposition with bet365 and that Roberto Martinez’s team are just too susceptible when it comes to conceding goals. They did also lose 20 of their 38 matches last season.

West Brom are 7/5 with Ladbrokes to go down, although they could easily have beaten Tottenham on Saturday and the Baggies are keeping things tight enough against some of the better teams to suggest that they will pass that magic 40-point mark. Perhaps Newcastle United are the newly-promoted team who could struggle, with the Magpies on offer at 9/2 (Paddy Power) to return to the Championship.

Stoke City have only three points to their name after four matches, with Coral offering 7/2 that the Potters are relegated during their third season in the Premier League. It promises as always to be an interesting tussle!

Which three teams will go down from the top flight this season? No side will be contemplating the possibility of relegation nine months down the line, although there will be three sets of supporters weeping on the terraces come May and the bookmakers are expecting a wide open contest.

Indeed, it was unusual that all Premier League relegation matters were decided before the final round of fixtures last season, with Hull, Burnley and Portsmouth already figuring out the route to Scunthorpe and Doncaster. Blackpool would probably be happy to have a chance of staying up on the final day of the season, with the Tangerines no bigger than 3/10 (Paddy Power) to return from whence they came.

It will be interesting to see how Ian Holloway approaches the top flight matches from a tactical point of view. The seaside club got themselves promoted by playing an attacking brand of football, although the Premier League is an unforgiving division and there needs to be a big improvement defensively.

The same applies to West Brom, who continue to entertain supporters with their style of play, although Roberto Di Matteo will be figuring out how to win ugly in the Premier League. The Midlands club will not be spending big money to stay in the top flight and have truly become a yo-yo club which makes Ladbrokes’ even money about them being relegated an interesting prospect.

Newcastle are the third of the promoted clubs and the Magpies are as big as 7/2 (Sky Bet) to drop back down to the Championship, something which happened two seasons ago. Lessons should have been learnt from that disastrous campaign and the signing of Dan Gosling hints at a brighter future for the well-supported north-east club.

At the time of writing, the two teams that look the best value to be relegated are Wigan (9/4 Victor Chandler) and Fulham (8/1 bet365). The Latics have been treading water in the top flight for the past couple of seasons and a lack of support means that money is scarce to buy new players. The loss of Titus Bramble to Sunderland might be more significant than people think and Roberto Martinez’s adventurous tactics might ultimately prove to be the team’s downfall.

As for the Cottagers, seeing them relegated under Roy Hodgson might have been an unthinkable prospect although they are now desperately seeking a new manager and somebody has some pretty big shoes to fill. It will be interesting to see whether Brede Hangeland, Bobby Zamora and Mark Schwarzer stay at Craven Cottage now that Hodgson has left, especially as Arsenal are reported to be interested in the latter.

There are plenty of other teams trading at single figure odds on the Premier League relegation market and Wolves might not get away with scoring so few goals this time around. Mick McCarthy relies heavily on Kevin Doyle to hold the ball up and punters can get 9/4 with bet365 that Wanderers go down. Their west Midlands rivals Birmingham (7/1 Sporting Bet) should be more comfortable thanks to a solid defence and some money in the coffers if needed.

While it’s clear that In-Play betting is becoming increasingly popular with customers, there are still many of us that like to place antepost bets either before or during the start of the football season. While a bet on a live game is often settled within minutes, a long-term bet means that you can enjoy your wager over the course of the season, before eventually it’s settled as a winner or loser by May.

There are still several issues to be decided in the Premier League, with the winner likely to come from a select group of two teams. Despite talk of Liverpool and Manchester City mounting a challenge this term, they are 100/1 (Sporting Bet) and 33/1 (Paddy Power) respectively to finish top of the pile. In addition, many people have started to write off Arsenal (for the second time this season) after the Gunners lost 3-1 at home to Manchester United on Sunday. Arsene Wenger’s team are now out to 10/1 with Sky Bet to win their first title since 2004, although it appears that they might not have enough quality.

Which leaves us with Chelsea and Manchester United. The Blues have been trading at odds-on for most of the season and the Blues are still available at a best price 5/6 (bet365), despite drawing with Hull on Tuesday. Carlo Ancelotti’s team still have to visit Old Trafford this season, something which might convince many that the Red Devils are clearly the value bet at 6/4 (Ladbrokes). With United having an easy match against Portsmouth on Saturday and Chelsea entertaining Arsenal on Sunday, it could be all change at the top.

While only three teams can possibly win the Premier League, it’s fair to say that eleven sides could be relegated this term. Some shrewd punters were backing Portsmouth at fancy odds of 5/1 before the season started, although their financial state and bad opening results saw Pompey quickly start trading at odds-on. It seems implausible that they are going to get out of the bottom three by the end of the season, although Coral and Victor Chandler are still prepared to offer odds of 1/5.

If Avram Grant’s team are doomed, then every other team will believe that they can escape the drop. Indeed, Hull City didn’t look like a team destined for the drop when drawing with Chelsea on Tuesday and Coral have eased the Tigers to 8/11 on their relegation market. Phil Brown’s team never give up and actually have form at the KC Stadium which might allow them to survive. Burnley are the same price (8/11 bet365) to return to the Championship next term, with the Clarets sinking like a stone in previous months. You could have backed them at around 4/1 when they had a bright opening to the campaign, although they need some inspiration from somewhere.

Wolves (11/8 Ladbrokes), Bolton (7/2 William Hill), Wigan (5/1 Ladbrokes) and West Ham (6/1 Stan James) are definitely too close to the bottom of the league for comfort, with the Hammers a surprisingly big price purely because they have new owners who have drafted in Benni McCarthy and Mido. It promises to be a scrap to the death at the wrong end of the Premier League table.