Cardiff City, Newcastle United, Crystal Palace & Southampton

Cardiff City, Newcastle United, Crystal Palace, Southampton - how Premier League relegation picture looks after bad weekend for Bluebirds


You get the impression that there will be many twists and turns over the coming weeks but there is no question that it has been a bad weekend for Cardiff City and their Premier League survival hopes.

A 5-1 hammering at home to Watford on Friday evening set the tone for a dismal round of fixtures for Neil Warnock.

This was supposed to be an opportunity for the Bluebirds to lay down an early marker on what was set to be a big weekend in the battle against the drop.

But they failed miserably, and Warnock will be hoping that the defeat won't have a lasting psychological impact on his squad as we enter the cliched business end of the campaign.

The good news for the Bluebirds is that Huddersfield and Fulham lost, leaving them at the bottom of the pile and looking increasingly doomed. And in the Terriers' case, it appears terminal.

Southampton, too, were well beaten by Arsenal at the Emirates to give Warnock a glimmer of positivity because they stay out of the bottom three.

But it was results above them which will have given him a bit of indigestion, with Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Burnley each winning.

So how is it looking?


THE RESULTS

Friday

Cardiff City 1-5 Watford

West Ham 3-1 Fulham

Saturday

Burnley 2-1 Tottenham

Newcastle United 2-0 Huddersfield

Leicester City 1-4 Crystal Palace

Sunday

Arsenal 2-0 Southampton

WHERE WE STAND

Cardiff City players look dejected as Watford celebrate Gerard Deulofeu's goal (Image: PA)
The Terriers are all but relegated, but they could, of course, still have a significant say in the relegation narrative. They still have games to play against their rivals that could shape the battle against the drop.

Fulham have a stinking next five games to contend with; they have Southampton first up but then face Chelsea, Leicester (new-manager-bounce incoming), Liverpool and Manchester City.

Southampton also have a tricky run, with a trip to Old Trafford and Tottenham and Liverpool pitching up on the South Coast in the next month or so.

Cardiff, though, have their own prospective problems. A run of Everton (h), Wolves (a), West Ham (h), Chelsea (h) and Man City (a) looks a tad daunting on paper, with the home games against a disappointing Toffees outfit and mid-table Hammers the best chances of points.

Big wins for Burnley and Newcastle - an unexpected one for the Clarets - have given Sean Dyche and Rafa Benitez a bit of space but make no mistake, this is going down to the wire.







NEXT FIVE FIXTURES

Huddersfield: Wolves (h), Brighton (a), Bournemouth (h), West Ham (a), Crystal Palace (a)

Fulham: Southampton (a), Chelsea (h), Leicester (a), Liverpool (h), Man City (h)

Southampton: Fulham (h), Man Utd (a), Tottenham (h), Brighton (a), Liverpool (h)

Cardiff: Everton (h), Wolves (a), West Ham (h), Chelsea (h), Man City (a)

Brighton: Leicester (a), Huddersfield (h), Crystal Palace (a), Southampton (h), Tottenham (a)

Newcastle: Burnley (h), West Ham (a), Everton (h), Bournemouth (a), Arsenal (a)

Burnley: Newcastle (a), Crystal Palace (h), Liverpool (a), Leicester (h), Wolves (h)

Crystal Palace: Man Utd (h), Burnley (a), Brighton (h), Huddersfield (h), Newcastle (a)

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HOW THE TABLE LOOKS

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Cardiff City p 27 pts 25 gd -27

To play:

Home
Everton, West Ham, Chelsea, Liverpool and Crystal Palace.

Away:
Wolves, Brighton, Man City, Burnley, Fulham and Man United

Southampton p 27 pts 24 gd -18

To play:

Home
Fulham, Tottenham, Liverpool, Wolves, Bournemouth and Huddersfield

Away
Man United, Brighton, Watford, Newcastle and West Ham

Brighton p 26 pts 27 gd -11

To play

Home
Huddersfield, Southampton, Cardiff City, Newcastle, Man City and Bournemouth.

Away
Leicester, Palace, Tottenham, Chelsea, Wolves and Arsenal

Newcastle p 27 pts 28 gd -10

Home
Burnley, Everton, Palace, Southampton and Liverpool

Away
West Ham, Bournemouth, Arsenal, Leicester, Brighton and Fulham.

Fulham p 27 pts 17 gd -35

Home
Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Everton, Cardiff City and Newcastle.

Away
Southampton, Leicester, Watford, Bournemouth and Wolves.

Hmmm - those two goalless draws with whipping boys Huddersfield and heavy defeats to Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Man United, Newcastle and Watford could well relegate us.

Hope not, but we have it all to do.

Still hilarious how no one mentioning the lovely boys of Brighton not a prem team and on their way down with Fulham and Huddersfield

Looks to me that its between us and Southampton for the third relegation place, given the fixtures coming up, I think Brighton will just have enough to get out of it. We could do with both fellow relegation candidates, Fulham and Brighton taking points off Southampton. Tomorrow's game is now massive, 3 points look essential or we are right back in the thick of it.

Still hilarious how no one mentioning the lovely boys of Brighton not a prem team and on their way down with Fulham and Huddersfield

Burnley like they will be ok now, great result for them and confidence builder, it looks like one from us, Brighton and Southampton, we have looked good up until Friday night so a very big game for us tomorrow !!!

Looking at the next 5 games really looks like its between us and Southampton. We need a 6/7 points out of the next 4 i think.

Loads of points still to play for

Still hilarious how no one mentioning the lovely boys of Brighton not a prem team and on their way down with Fulham and Huddersfield

Burnley like they will be ok now, great result for them and confidence builder, it looks like one from us, Brighton and Southampton, we have looked good up until Friday night so a very big game for us tomorrow !!!

Southampton p 27 pts 24 gd -18

To play:

Home
Fulham, Tottenham, Liverpool, Wolves, Bournemouth and Huddersfield

Away
Man United, Brighton, Watford, Newcastle and West Ham

4 winnable for Southampton, Fulham, Huddersfield (who may then be down and playing for pride without the pressure) Brighton and Newcastle, we are going to have better them to stay up, certainly doable, we really need a win tonight !!!

Still hilarious how no one mentioning the lovely boys of Brighton not a prem team and on their way down with Fulham and Huddersfield

Brighton doing really badly and still in the cup which could be a distraction, but look to have the more winnable fixtures, we will soon start to see ?

Newcastle are gonna be just fine

Still hilarious how no one mentioning the lovely boys of Brighton not a prem team and on their way down with Fulham and Huddersfield

Brighton doing really badly and still in the cup which could be a distraction, but look to have the more winnable fixtures, we will soon start to see ?

I agree
Brighton are in massive trouble and our game against them could end up being a relegation decider

Still hilarious how no one mentioning the lovely boys of Brighton not a prem team and on their way down with Fulham and Huddersfield

Brighton doing really badly and still in the cup which could be a distraction, but look to have the more winnable fixtures, we will soon start to see ?

I agree
Brighton are in massive trouble and our game against them could end up being a relegation decider

Brighton have some winnable games but Glen Murray who they rely on hasn't scored since 4th December, and they are still in the FA Cup and could well beat Millwall so could well be distracted, plus Southampton are above us because they beat a poor Fulham.

It looks like its between us three now, but we need to get back to form quickly !!!