We are now half way through February and with only three months of the football season left the battles at the top and the bottom of the Premier League are starting to take shape. At the bottom, only eight points celebrates 10th place from 20th and eight teams are within just four points of the relegation zone; no wonder this season has been called the tightest relegation battle in years, possibly ever. Here I present you with my thoughts on who will do enough to stay up and who will suffer at the end of the season.

Swansea

Swansea haven’t played as well this season as we know they can but they are still sitting in mid-table, mainly due to the fact that there are a lot more poorer teams in the league this year than them. They have suffered from the poisoned chalice of the Europa League with injuries to key players being picked up and are suffering as a result much like Newcastle did last season. I do think they have enough about them to keep their heads above water; they have a goalscorer in Bony and good players in Williams and Dyer, but the sooner they exit Europe the better

West Ham

In the first half of the season I thought West Ham were one of the teams that were certainties for relegation due to their incapability to score goals. They were relying on Carlton Cole who they deemed to not be good enough in the summer and Modibo Maiga who hasn’t scored in over a year. Add to that the injury crisis they suffered from which resulted in their 5-0 humiliation by Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup and I thought they were doomed to the drop. However, now things are starting to click into place. Players are coming back from injury, Nolan is looking like his former self and scoring goals and in Carroll, even though currently suspended, can cause any teams problems if they keep him fit. I think they have enough to stay up.

Aston Villa

Villa are one of those teams that seem to have gone through the season very quietly with no drama to talk about. Currently sitting in 12th this is the position they have occupied for most of the season which shows although not among the best teams in the league they are not among the worst either. With a young squad who suffered a relegation fight last year they will be more prepared this time around and if they continue as they are I am sure they will be fine

Hull

At the beginning of this season after having come up from the Championship I looked at their squad and thought they would be going straight back down. Short of any real stand out quality they had a steady first half of the season without grabbing any headlines, mainly due to their lack of goal scoring prowess. Since the arrivals of Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic in January they have players who can put away those chances that went begging earlier on in the campaign, which is why I think they will stay up.

Stoke

Mark Hughes was brought in at the beginning of the season to change the way Stoke play and to be frank he has been unsuccessful and in doing so they no longer threaten teams like they used to, nor are they as solid at the back. I am almost certain they will stay up due to the experience they have in their squad and players like Begovic (although injured), Shawcross and Adam now he is showing glimpses of his former self add a bit of extra quality.

Crystal Palace

Palace were another team who I thought had no chance in hell staying in the league and it looked like I would be proved right until Ian Holloway decided to resign saying he had taken the club as far as he could. The number of players they brought in during the summer was unbelievable but the vast majority of them were not of the quality needed to stay up. Then they hired Tony Pulis and although this was criticised for his style of play he has made the team more tactically secure and harder to beat which has seen them slowly climb out of the relegation zone. They also made some good additions in January with Tom Ince, Joe Ledley which is why I think they will just stay up.

Norwich

At the start of the season I thought Norwich would surprise people by doing better than they were supposed to but it looks like I was wrong. They bought two goalscorers in the summer in the form of Gary Hooper and Ricky Van Wolfswinkel but injuries and a lack of form means neither have hit the form that they are capable of. The defence also looks shaky and they are finding wins hard to come by. Add to that the horrific end to season they have with their last four games being against Liverpool, Man United, Chelsea and Arsenal who will all probably have something to play for. However before that they do have a lot of relegation ‘six-pointers’ against Villa, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, West Brom and Fulham which will prove to be pivotal. Unfortunately I just can’t see them surviving.

West Brom

Since the sacking of Steve Clarke West Brom seem to have hit a downward spiral and are slowly falling down the league. For me, they lost their best striker in January in Shane Long and didn’t replace him which in hindsight looks a bad move. The only thing in favour of them is the fact they don’t concede a lot of goals and have managed to grind out draws against Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton in recent weeks and all at home. I think they will stay up by the scruff of their necks and mainly due to the fact I think there are three poorer teams in the league.

Sunderland

Sunderland had a horrific start to the season and looked like they had the potential to break the record for the lowest points total ever. They then sacked the walking atomic bomb that is Paulo Di Canio and hired Gus Poyet as his replacement which looks to have been a shrewd move. He won the derby 2-1 against Newcastle which seems to have galvanized the squad and given the players a bit of a boost. He has made players who looked awful at the start of the campaign look slightly more like Premier League footballers and a lot of credit has to go to him for that. Adam Johnson is getting back to the player we know he can be too and I think they will just stay up, but only just.

Cardiff

In my opinion Cardiff are in big trouble. They have an owner who everybody hates, a manager with no managerial experience in the league and a squad that looks short on quality. Some players in the likes of Caulker and Marshall have shown they can cut it in the league and Zaha showed on his debut he can cause problems. Their midfield looks distinctly average however and they have no goalscorer of note. Campbell has done the business on occasions but they don’t have anybody they can rely on to score week in week out. I will be sad to see them go down but I think they will.

Fulham

Well what can I say about Fulham? Unfortunately nothing positive and to me it looks like they have already gone. They have an unproven manager in Meulensteen and even with Wilkins and Curbishley in the background they look tactically fragile and the players look short of confidence. Their goal difference of -32, the worst in the top four English leagues, speaks for itself and shows as well as leaking goals they can’t score them either which isn’t a good recipe if you want to stay up. A points total of 20 is also the lowest in these four leagues. I am almost certain they will go down.

So there it is, my predictions of who will go down from the Premier League come the end of the season. I predict 20th: Fulham, 19th Cardiff, 18th: Norwich with Sunderland and West Brom staying up either on goal difference or the odd point. As you can see it is so tight and hard to predict and I am certain we will see some more twists and turns in the coming weeks