SB Nation isn't not going to pretend that anything but the relegation battles are going to be particularly interesting this week. There are five teams that could join West Ham United in dropping to the Championship next year, and it's very easy to see ways all of them could make the drop. The good folks at The First Eleven have put together 81 scenarios for Sunday's games, but we'll just look at one - our picks have Blackpool and Birmingham relegated. And we're ignoring the rest of the games, because boring!
Premier League Preview: Relegation Battle Weekend’s Major Draw
Sunday
Aston Villa vs. Liverpool
4:00 PM GMT, 11:00 AM EST
Boring.
Pick: 2-1 Liverpool
Bolton Wanderers vs. Manchester City
4:00 PM GMT, 11:00 AM EST
Boring.
Pick: 0-0 Draw
Boring.
Pick: 1-1 Draw
Why is everything so boring?
Pick: 1-0 Arsenal
Manchester United vs. Blackpool
4:00 PM GMT, 11:00 AM EST
Aha! Excitement! Champions Manchester United have nothing to play for against Blackpool at Old Trafford, and the visitors currently sit in the relegation zone. A win would virtually guarantee their safety thanks to Wolves and Blackburn playing each other, but with United having dropped all of two points at home all season, that may prove a step too far for the Tangerines, even if Sir Alex Ferguson fields a so-called weakened squad.
Pick: 2-1 United
Newcastle United vs. West Bromwich Albion
4:00 PM GMT, 11:00 AM EST
Boring
Pick: 1-1 Draw
Stoke City vs. Wigan Athletic
4:00 PM GMT, 11:00 AM EST
Wigan are in a similar position to Blackpool here - a win at the Britannia would see them extremely likely to escape relegation, and any other result would leave them in deep, deep trouble. With Stoke having even less to play for than Manchester United and being a far weaker team besides, it’s not entirely out of the question than Roberto Martinez and company can do it. Don’t rule anything out after the drama of last weekend.
Pick: 2-2 Draw
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Birmingham City
4:00 PM GMT, 11:00 AM EST; Fox Soccer Channel
Tottenham Hotspur are theoretically battling to keep their Europa League spot (which nobody’s really sure they’re very bothered about), which makes Birmingham’s trip to White Hart Lane a little more of a tricky proposition than Wigan or Blackpool’s sojourns. While Birmingham are out of the relegation zone as it stands, they could easily fall into it by virtue of goal differential. Interesting times.
Pick: 3-1 Tottenham
West Ham United vs. Sunderland
4:00 PM GMT, 11:00 AM EST
Boring.
Pick: 2-1 Sunderland
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Blackburn
4:00 PM GMT, 11:00 AM EST
The last of the big relegation games - whoever wins this is mathematically guaranteed safety while the loser may well still escape. A draw leaves both sides sweating on other results, but would leave Blackburn probably safe, while Wolves would be in pretty good shape as well. So... thinking draw here, as awesome as it would be to see each side go all-out a la West Ham-Wigan last week.
Pick: 0-0 Draw
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