Who will go down?

[weybridgewanderer]

getting to the business end of the season and while on paper our run in looks easier, we have to play teams around us who all have something to fight for

argaubly playing the man citys, tottenhams and west hams of the world is now easier than playing the birmingham and boltons of the world.

its why the relegation threatened teams always pick up more points toward the end of the season

Brum will come with the same mentality as Bolton did

Blackburn will come with the sam ementality as man city did

I think saturday will be a struggle and we'll only draw, but we will take 3 points of blackburn the following week.

[T.R.O.L.I.]

Newcastle keeper Shay Given is expected to be out for six weeks after having groin surgery in Germany on Tuesday.
Given has not played since Newcastle's 5-1 home defeat against Manchester United on 23 February.

He will be operated on by Dr Ulrike Muschaweck, who has also treated Michael Owen and Alan Shearer.

A Newcastle statement read: "Shay Given is expected to make a full recovery after surgery and will be absent for a six-week period."

Full Story


Another bit of good news for us (and Fulham admittedly) - though hopefully he'll be back early in time for their game against Sunderland on 19th April.

[TFF]

Blackburn will come with the sam ementality as man city did

[Man Friday]

...in the history of Reading FC (with just one or two exceptions) whenever a win would be really useful and on the cards (as in Birmingham on Saturday) it doesn't come. We haven't seen 0-0 at the Madejski for a while so that's what I'm going for. A win would be just too good to be true as it would probably leave us only needing a couple more, at most probably, to stay up. Lose and we're right back in the s**t.

[RoyalBlue]

I think we'll have to play pretty well to get a win on Saturday actually.

Surely it will be a walk in the park if they play that big waste of money McFadden!

[brendywendy]

he does seem to be one of only a few players to be doing really well since their january purchases

[Wycombe Royal]

Blackburn will come with the sam ementality as man city did

Man City were out of form, with key defenders missing and Petrov (and then lose Dunne during the first half) but are still challenging for a place in Europe.

Blackburn do not have the same injury or suspension problems, are not in poor form and are challenging for Europe.

They will be a far tougher proposition than Man City were.

[Cookie]

Bolton are doing their best to get into the bottom three. (30 mins gone at Old Trafford.)

[TFF]

Bolton are doing their best to get into the bottom three.

[royalshaker]

its 2 0 to united

[Cookie]

its 2 0 to united

I'm listening to the radio commentary and the most mentioned player is Nicolas Anelka. Seriously!

[The whole year inn]

Always interesting to see how the opposition sees it all going.

The Sunderland Echo has us down to stay up

http://www.sunderlandecho.com/safc/Relegation-prediction-Sunderland-Middlesbrough-Wigan.3893766.jp

Relegation prediction: Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Wigan, Newcastle, Reading, Birmingham safe: Fulham, Bolton and Derby down.

By Ian Laws
THE PREMIER LEAGUE run-in promises to be among the most thrilling in recent years, at both ends of the table.
But events at the bottom mean most to Sunderland fans right now and tonight's game between title-chasing Manchester United and endangered Bolton will be an intriguing one.

Many fans will have been ploughing for the fixture list trying to establish where the Black Cats – and their survival rivals – are going to pick up points.

Ever the optimist, Echo football writer Ian Laws has turned Mystic Lawsy, going through every fixture to put his neck and predict if the Wearsiders will stay up, or plunge through the relegation trapdoor.

Based on home victories over West Ham, Manchester City and Middlesbrough and draws against Newcastle and Bolton, Mystic Lawsy sees happy days in his crystal ball – with Sunderland preserving their Premier League status with something to spare.

But it's bad news for Derby, who our soothsayer reckons will stay bottom of the table and beat Sunderland's lowest ever Premier points tally, Bolton and Fulham, who go down – Birmingham surviving on goal difference.

Will Mystic Lawsy be right?

LAWSY'S predictions:


WIGAN: Blackburn (a) L, Portsmouth (a) L, Birmingham (h) W, Chelsea (a) L, Tottenham (h) L, Reading (h) W, Villa (a) L, Man Utd (h) L.. Predicted tally from remaining games: 6pts

MIDDLESBROUGH: Derby (h) W, Chelsea (a) L, Man Utd (h) L, Tottenham (a) L, Bolton (h) W, Sunderland (a) L, Portsmouth (h) L, Man City (a) D. Predicted tally from remaining games: 7pts

NEWCASTLE: Fulham (h) D, Tottenham (a) L, Reading (h) W, Portsmouth (a) L, Sunderland (h) D, West Ham (a) D, Chelsea (h) L, Everton (a) L.. Predicted tally from remaining games: 6pts

READING: Birmingham (h) W, Blackburn (h) L, Newcastle (a) L, Fulham (h) W, Arsenal (a) L, Wigan (a) L, Tottenham (h) L, Derby (a) L. Predicted tally from remaining games: 6pts

BIRMINGHAM: Reading (a) L, Man City (h) D, Wigan (a) L
, Everton (h) D, Aston Villa (a) L, Liverpool (h) D, Fulham (a) L, Blackburn (h) D. Predicted tally from remaining games: 4pts

SUNDERLAND: Aston Villa (a) L, West Ham (h) W, Fulham (a) L, Man City (h) W, Newcastle (a) D, Middlesbrough (h) W, Bolton (a) D, Arsenal (h) L. Predicted tally from remaining games: 11pts

BOLTON: Man Utd (a) L, Man City (h) D, Arsenal (h) L, Aston Villa (a) L, West Ham (h) D, Middlesbrough (a) L, Tottenham (a) L, Sunderland (h) D, Chelsea (a) L. Predicted tally from remaining games: 3pts

FULHAM: Newcastle (a) D, Derby (a) D, Sunderland (h) W, Reading (a) L, Liverpool (h) L, Man City (a) L, Birmingham (h) W, Portsmouth (a) L. Predicted tally from remaining games: 8pts

DERBY: Middlesbrough (a) L, Fulham (h) D, Everton (a) L, Aston Villa (H) L, West Ham (a) L, Arsenal (h) L, Blackburn (a) L, Reading (H) W. Predicted tally from remaining games: 4pts

[Franchise FC]

BOLTON: Man Utd (a) L, Man City (h) D, Arsenal (h) L, Aston Villa (a) L, West Ham (h) D, Middlesbrough (a) L, Tottenham (a) L, Sunderland (h) D, Chelsea (a) L. Predicted tally from remaining games: 3pts

FULHAM: Newcastle (a) D, Derby (a) D, Sunderland (h) W, Reading (a) L, Liverpool (h) L, Man City (a) L, Birmingham (h) W, Portsmouth (a) L. Predicted tally from remaining games: 8pts

DERBY: Middlesbrough (a) L, Fulham (h) D, Everton (a) L, Aston Villa (H) L, West Ham (a) L, Arsenal (h) L, Blackburn (a) L, Reading (H) W. Predicted tally from remaining games: 4pts

Those Bolton results would be too good to be true.
The rest would mean that 4 points from the next two home games and we'd be safe !!

Sign me up for some of that

[Wycombe Royal]

I do find it a bit laughable on how biased that reporter is. Sunderland to get 11 more points but no other team at the bottom to get more than 8? I'll be very surprised if Sunderland get 3 more points than all the other teams at the bottom.

[SpaceCruiser]

I somehow think that Sunderland won't beat Wet Sham.

[T.R.O.L.I.]

I do find it a bit laughable on how biased that reporter is. Sunderland to get 11 more points but no other team at the bottom to get more than 8? I'll be very surprised if Sunderland get 3 more points than all the other teams at the bottom.

And the fact that he thinks Sunlun will get a point at St James whereas we will lose - despite us having a better away record than them (albeit only slightly) and the fact that, IMO, the Geordies would much rather beat them than little Reading

[Cookie]

Dirk Gently might like to re-do his poll to include Fulham. Coz they're back in with a chance.

[The whole year inn]

I am willing to bet having lost three in a row, Coppell would never let us go to Derby and lose.

Not after the 8 in a row

[Platypuss]

I do find it a bit laughable on how biased that reporter is.

So biased that he thinks they'll only get one point in total from Bolton and Fulham?

[Wycombe Royal]

I do find it a bit laughable on how biased that reporter is.

So biased that he thinks they'll only get one point in total from Bolton and Fulham?

Even the most biased Sunderland fan won't predict an away victory for them.