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It will go down to the last day, with Aston Villa, Stoke and ourselves fighting for survival. However that said, Stoke’s superior goal difference (eight better than ours, and eleven better than Aston Villa’s) should see them stay up if they manage to win one more game.
With Sunderland and Norwich having easier games to play, that could see them both go safe if they can get the wins. Newcastle, on the other hand, only need to pick up at least a point before facing QPR on the penultimate weekend; win that and they will be safe.
As for Wigan, the next two away games are going to be tough and I only see us getting two draws. The home game against Tottenham could be important, but I don’t think it will be one we can win. Beating Swansea on the following mid-week game is going to be a must, while anything we can get in the game against Arsenal will be an added bonus.
That means it all hinges on the game with Aston Villa, who I don’t see winning a game between now and the end of the season. Manchester United and Chelsea will both be after the three points against the Villa; while their games against Sunderland and Norwich will be difficult (I see them only getting one point).
So it comes down to the final day yet again. With Wigan having played three games in that week we could be suffering from fatigue. Not want you want in such an important match, and that is where we the fans will come in to play. We could be the difference of survival, with two winnable home games
.As it stands it will be a tight finish and with each weekend the race could swing drastically from one team to the next. Hopefully Wigan have enough left to swing it more in their favour. Six points could be enough to see us safe, but I think we need to aim to get nine to twelve in our last six to make absolutely sure.
Win three of the next four, and we could go the FA Cup final knowing we are staying in the Premier League for a ninth consecutive season.
My Predicted Final Table
Sunderland Pts 41Newcastle United Pts 41
Norwich City Pts 40
Stoke City Pts 39
Wigan Athletic Pts 37
Aston Villa Pts 36
Queens Park Rangers Pts 30
Reading Pts 26