Relegation

As a newish fan to the English Premier League combined with my nervousness about Stoke falling fast - I decided to dig into the table a bit and see what the numbers tell me.

Based on performance this year (2011 only) on top of the points earned last year I've found the following teams out "for sure":

19th: Wolverhampton
20th: Wigan

Now, here is where it gets tricky. Statistically, there is a group at the bottom that are almost too close to call.

Blackburn Rovers
West Bromwich Albion
West Ham United
Blackpool
Wolverhampton Wndrs
Wigan Athletic

Out of that group; West Ham have increased their pts p/game significantly. West Ham pulled only .95 pre-January... Now they are at 1.38. But there are only 9 games left. Is it enough?

West Brom is also pulling their weight gaining 1.11 pts p/game this year. That is flat over pre-Jan (1.10).

So... West Brom is setting themselves up to be safe as well with that consistancy because Blackburn and Blackpool are falling fast. Blackpool is set up to fall the most. They are currently sitting at 15th. Safe right? Nope. I'm actually calling their current fall all the way down.

It's going to be tight, but hat leaves our relegation friends to be:

18: Blackpool
19: Wolverhampton Wndrs
20: Wigan Athletic

If Blackpool can get out of their funk they can land at 16. The trend, looking at the full year, puts them there above West Ham. But I just don't see it.

Billy Sasquatch see it this way by season end:

Manchester United
Arsenal
Manchester City
Chelsea
Tottenham Hotspur
Liverpool
Bolton Wanderers
Everton
Sunderland
Newcastle United
Fulham
Aston Villa
Stoke City
Birmingham City
Blackburn Rovers
West Bromwich Albion
West Ham United
Blackpool
Wolverhampton Wndrs
Wigan Athletic

It's going to be mildly interesting at the top between Arsenal and Man U. I'd rather see neither but it is what it is. Arsenal has a chance.