Bottom three awaiting fate

London – Time is fast running out for West Brom, Stoke and Southampton to save themselves from the trap door of Premier League relegation and the drastic loss of revenue it entails.

With Manchester City already crowned champions with five games to spare, and Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur looking well set to join them in the Champions League next season, attention has turned to the other end of the table for the final weeks of the season.

Despite their heroics in beating United 1-0 at Old Trafford last weekend to gift City the title, West Brom could become the first side mathematically relegated this weekend should results not go their way.

The Baggies host Liverpool today where defeat, allied to Swansea avoiding a similar fate at City tomorrow, would confirm their fate.

“You finish where you deserve to finish over the course of the season. For long periods of the season, we haven’t been good enough,” admitted West Brom’s Chris Brunt (above).

However, four points from their last two games under interim manager Darren Moore has at least kept West Brom alive.

Stoke are also approaching the last chance saloon as they sit five points adrift of safety with just four games left to save themselves.

With a trip to Anfield to come next weekend, Sunday’s home clash with Burnley is virtually a must-win for Paul Lambert’s men.

Southampton inched to within four points of Swansea with a 0-0 draw at Leicester on Thursday, but are in FA Cup semifinal action this weekend against Chelsea.

City may already be champions, but with points and goals records still well within their reach, they could do the bottom three a big favour against Swansea.

Crystal Palace and West Ham enjoy a cushion over the bottom three, but also still need points to guarantee their place.

Palace travel to a Watford side that has taken just one point from their last five matches.

Meanwhile, West Ham’s chances of a shock win at Arsenal will be boosted by Arsene Wenger admitting his focus will be on a Europa League semifinal against Atletico Madrid four days later. –

For long periods of the season, we haven’t been good enough.

Chris Brunt West Bromwich Albion