Who will fail to avoid the trap door?

The relegation scrap is one of the many elements of the Premier League that sets it apart from the rest of Europe's top leagues. The fear of dropping to England's second tier, where it has become increasingly difficult to navigate a route back out of, can often serve as the ideal motivation for those vying in the relegation area. The sides currently in a fight to save themselves from the drop could look no further than at Leicester City, flying the flag for the lower table obscurity that has so often prevented a miraculous challenge from the chasing pack at the lower half of the the world's most competitive football league. Around this time of the season, the footballing world begins to make a final hedge of their bets as to who will fall through the trap door and into the Championship at the end of the season. The list is a reasonably sizeable one this season, with Aston Villa, Norwich City, Newcastle United, Sunderland, and an outside chance with Swansea City and Crystal Palace.

While Aston Villa seemed to have built a lower mid table squad at the start of the season, the dismal run they have continued to endure following their less than convincing open day win at newly promoted Bournemouth in August, has all but sealed their fate. A lack of goals at the top end, with a defence as leaky as the Titanic's hull and a midfield that seemingly can't manage a tackle or a challenge, Villa have capitulated continually throughout the season despite Tim Sherwood and Reme Garde's best efforts. While their fans prayed for January signing's to lift a broken team, Villa's board seemed to choose financial security over giving themselves a fighting chance of achieving the impossible. If Villa do manage to spring themselves back into the Premier League next year after their inevitable drop this season, that may well prove to have been a wise choice.

It wouldn't have been unfair to say that Norwich City had the weakest squad in the Premier League at the outset of the current campaign, yet in 2015 they battled admirably and seemed like they were more likely to survive than not. Despite good signings in the January window, with Steven Naismith making the switch from Everton, Norwich have lost 8 out of their last 10 Premier League games, winning just one. A confidence shattering 5-4 loss against Liverpool in the last minute, when they had been 3-1 up midway through the second half, has proven to ruin their promising season. Performances haven't let them down, but a inability to hold a lead, or see out a victory or a draw has cost them dearly at this stage. Alex Neil's managerial inexperience is a worry for a side struggling to find any source of inspiration or knowhow. Defensive solidity and better service from the wider areas is what is needed at this stage for City, but with games moving thick and fast, a change in fortune cannot come fast enough.

Newcastle United fans had room for optimism in August, but yet come March and that optimism has been renamed pessimism and anger. Steve McClaren, a manager and coach with vast experience in not only just England but Holland too, became manager of a club known for being at the top half of the English Premier League. Signing one of Europe's highest rated youngsters in Aleksander Mitrovic, as well as Dutch league top scorer Georginio Wijnaldum, it seemed this season might be a strong season for the Tynside club. Newcastle have endured a stuttering campaign, if it could be called that. Navigating their way to an away draw at Louis Van Gaal's Manchester United in August, a home hammering of Liverpool and an away victory at high-flying Tottenham in December suggested their potential to compete with sides bearing far greater quality than themselves. Despite spending vast sums of money on two England internationals in Jonjo Shelvey from fellow strugglers Swansea, and Andros Townsend from Tottenham, United haven't seen an immediate effect that is somewhat needed at such a vital point in the season. What has remained from seasons before is an failure to beat those sides around them, leaving them now perilously close to following Aston Villa's inevitable descent.

When any relegation battle is considered, Sunderland in recent years have been permanent mainstay's. Manager after manager has failed in their persuit of a mid-table finish to a season, but in Sam Allardyce they have a manager who has never been relegated and is a wise old dog in these situations. A squad with good attacking players, especially in the wider areas and with new additions that have already made an impact - Wahbi Khazri and Yan Kirchhoff - Sunderland are the least likely of the main contenders to go down. Jermaine Defoe has continued to score goals for the Tynesiders, notching 14 goals despite often leading the line for his team on his own. The continuing Adam Johnson scandal can do the club no good however, and yesterday Chief Executive Margaret Byrne resigned from her post following evidence that suggested she was given transcripts throughout the case and was aware of Johnson's guilt yet did not sack the disgraced winger. Experience in their ranks is what may well save Sunderland. Ex-Manchester United players John O'Shea and Wes Brown, as well as Defoe himself have been there and seen it all at this level and unless Defoe's goals dry up and Sunderland's defensive improvements begin to falter, they will fancy themselves to finish above their relegations rivals, if only minimally.

Prediction:

15th - Swansea City

16th - Crystal Palace

17th - Sunderland

18th - Newcastle United

19th - Norwich City

20th - Aston Villa

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