After Wednesday’s two matches, all the teams in the Premier League have now played the same number of games and the relegation battle looks like providing a fascinating end to the season.
Aston Villa’s draw with Sheffield United left Dean Smith’s men in the bottom three and with now just nine games left to avoid an instant return to the Championship.
The current bottom three are made up of Norwich, Villa and Bournemouth, heading into a key weekend of top-flight action.
The Canaries – another team only promoted last season – remain rooted to the bottom and are 2/25* to be relegated, with six points between themselves and safety.
Norwich’s season resumes on Friday when they face what looks like a ‘must-win game’ against Southampton at Carrow Road – with Daniel Farke’s men 9/4 to collect the three points, while the Saints are priced at 6/5 and the draw can be backed at 51/20.
Villa’s draw in midweek means they are left on 26 points from 29 games, just a point behind the next three in the table – Bournemouth, Watford and West Ham.
Now 19/10 to stay up, the Midlands outfit looked a bit more defensively secure against the Blades having conceded more goals (56) than any of their rivals to avoid the drop.
A big test of that defensive improvement though will come on Sunday, when Chelsea are the visitors to Stamford Bridge. Villa to win to zero can be backed at 29/4, while both teams to score is available at 20/29.
Palace Visit the Cherries
Bournemouth – proudly supported by MansionBet – will make history on Saturday evening, when they are involved in the first live Premier League game televised on the BBC, with Crystal Palace the visitors to the Vitality Stadium.
The Cherries had lost three and drawn one of their last four matches before the enforced break, a run that has seen them come in to 4/5 to be relegated.
Eddie Howe’s men lost 1-0 at Palace in the reverse fixture, despite the Eagles playing over 70 minutes with 10 men and another win for Roy Hodgson’s men is available at 2/1, while Bournemouth are 6/4 and the draw is 9/4.
Big Home Games for Hammers and Hornets
Watford and West Ham both face big home games against European hopefuls on Saturday, against Leicester and Wolves respectively.
The Hornets face Leicester in the 12:30 kick off and with two former Foxes bosses on their bench (Nigel Pearson and Craig Shakespeare), Watford will believe they can collect a crucial three points (Match Odds – Watford 51/20, Draw 5/2, Leicester 11/10).
Meanwhile, West Ham have won just one of their last eight in the league and are 13/5 to beat a Wolves team that have the top four in their sights and won 1-0 at the London Stadium last season.
The other team that could well be dragged into the relegation battle are Brighton, who currently have a two-point cushion between themselves and the drop zone.
The Seagulls face Arsenal, Leicester, Man Utd, Liverpool and Man City in five of their next six games and are now 11/4 to be relegated.
Brighton, who play host to the Gunners on Saturday afternoon, have not won a match in 2020 and have only scored eight goals since the turn of the year.
*All odds correct at time of writing