The relegation race sprung into life last night, although for Wolves, the drop now looks a certainty.
We commented yesterday that this year’s survival battle was becoming a fight that nobody looked capable of winning.
QPR and Wigan proved us wrong, seizing the initiative to gain three points lifting themselves out of the drop zone, bringing the number of games won by the bottom five teams over Easter from 0/7 to 2/10, with Wolves predictably losing again.
Both now sit on 31 points, with Bolton on 29 – with a game in hand- and Blackburn on 28- rueing conceding a costly late goal to Andy Carroll on Tuesday night.
Aston Villa will now be looking nervously over their shoulders, on 35 points, and if they lose to Bolton they will be dragged right into the mix.
However if Bolton lose their game in hand to Villa, the Midlands club can consider themselves truly safe, while time will be fast running out for the Trotters.
Wigan deserve extra credit for their win over Manchester United, which threatens to derail the Red Devils title charge, and it is a proud result they can add to their 2-1 win at Anfield three weeks earlier.
They were also extremely unlucky not to get anything out of their trip to Stamford Bridge, so they are full of confidence, despite the tough run-in, which sees them travel to the Emirates this weekend.
Wolves meanwhile are a broken team. Mick McCarthy seemed lost for words in the Sky studio last night discussing his former team, while poor Terry Connor’s reputation is in tatters after being tasked with a seemingly impossible job.
Nine points adrift of safety with five games to go, the confirmation of their relegation is simply a matter of time, losing 3-0 at home to Arsenal last night.
Now is a good time to discuss the results of our poll yesterday, where we asked you who will go down;
Wigan fans will no doubt be smiling, after our readers tipped them the most likely team to join Wolves.
The results are as follows, Wigan (48 per cent), Blackburn (46 per cent), QPR (23 per cent), Bolton (7 per cent) and Aston Villa (2 per cent).
Wigan and QPR’s wins have turned those predictions on their heads, and both Bolton and Blackburn have a lot of work to do now after losing both the initaitive and momentum, while Villa are making a painfully slow exit after getting stuck in relegation quicksand and need to drag themselves out quickly.
What did QPR fans make of their side’s win last night? Fans told video blogging service Winkball their thoughts after the match…
Who now are your tips to go down?
image: © illarterate
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