by It may not get the pulse of the big six fans pumping, but the fight to survive in the Premier League is by far the best spectacle in town.
Across the globe, players, managers and fans are distracted by one of the tightest races in history, each adopting their own methods of trying to stay above the line.
Only six points separate Crystal Palace in 12th place from bottom club Bournemouth. And with matches against Manchester City, Brighton and Arsenal ahead of the international break, it’s no wonder Palace boss Patrick Vieira is feeling feverish.
“If I was sitting in front of you and saying it didn’t apply to me, that would be a lie,” he said. “Of course we’re concerned. Of course we are aware of our position.
The problem for Vieira and his fellow bosses is that there is no safety blanket, no Norwich City to tip the odds in their favour. In previous seasons, the Canary Islands and others were so poor that they were as good as down from afar. Not so lucky this season.
Patrick Vieira, whose Crystal Palace side are 12th, has admitted he is concerned about relegation
Julen Lopetegui’s wolves are also engaged in an intriguing battle to avoid relegation
In this high-stakes game, Wolves coach Julen Lopetegui looks like the coolest player at the table. On Friday, he greeted the media by handing out pizza boxes left by players who had been rewarded for keeping a clean sheet against Tottenham, and made off-the-cuff analogies comparing Premier League games to melons. “You don’t know what it’s going to be like until you open it,” he said, before adding – with a twinkle in his eye – “The Newcastle game will be a tough melon.”
Lopetegui is a cat on hot bricks in his technical area, but tries to spread a focused atmosphere of calm to the training ground.
Perhaps things were a bit too loose in Leicester. Brendan Rodgers’ side are only two points clear of the line and Sportsmail understands that sentiment has changed drastically since last weekend’s defeat to Southampton. “I think before this game everyone assumed everything would be fine,” one source said. Now that has changed.
Leicester defender Timothy Castagne has admitted his side know they are fighting for relegation
This was confirmed by defender Timothy Castagne. It would be foolish to say we are not [in a relegation fight],’ he said. ‘We know we are.
“We often talk about more fighting, more aggression – the dirty part of football. In these games, that’s what you need. At least Leicester have James Maddison, perhaps the best individual player involved in the scrap.
Look closely and you’ll see the pressure takes its toll. Under any other circumstances, would Rodgers have asked Jannik Vestergaard – an already much disliked player – to train alone in response to comments made in an interview, Sportsmail revealed on Thursday?
Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper was frustrated with the referees’ decisions against Everton
Would Nottingham Forest’s Steve Cooper, another level-headed figure, pounce on center John Brooks after a 2-2 draw with Everton, even suggesting that his performance should be scrutinized by the chief referees?
Forest had a difficult situation in this match, but perhaps a big call went in their favor – a penalty to Everton as Seamus Coleman went down under a challenge from Jack Colback. Indeed, a selection of theories recently aired by some of these clubs make UFO conspiracies seem rational.
Of those struggling, only Wolves can say they definitely made the right choice with the manager change. They were bottom when Lopetegui took over and now they are level on points with Palace.
West Ham insisted on David Moyes, but the season is still tough for them
Leeds manager Javi Gracia had to stand up for Georginio Rutter’s poor performance
West Ham are stuck with David Moyes but the season continues to be tough with no signs of a breakthrough. Leeds don’t seem to be in a better position than when they sacked Jesse Marsch on February 6 and Javi Gracia had to defend Georginio Rutter, signed from Hoffenheim for the club’s £35.5m but whose performances so far have been desperately mediocre. No wonder he keeps scoring goals. “Every day he works hard to try to improve and help the team,” said the Spaniard.
On the south coast, Bournemouth need to show they can recover from a 3-2 defeat to Arsenal where the Cherries were leading 2-0. At Southampton, debutante Ruben Selles took advantage of a rebound from Nathan Jones to take six points from a possible nine and draw the Saints back to compete.
Gary O’Neil’s Bournemouth need to show they can respond to defeat by Arsenal
Rookie manager Ruben Selles did well to give Southampton a chance to survive
Everton boss Sean Dyche has plenty of experience in avoiding relegation
However, in a battle as tense as this one, you’d probably rather have Sean Dyche in your corner than the opposite one, after he’s done this trick so many times in his previous job.
The former Burnley boss can sometimes venture into verbal dead ends as he speaks publicly about his players’ “delivery” of his performances, but he is crystal clear about the task ahead.
“The mentality, the underbelly that says we will stop at nothing to be relentless to win games,” Dyche said as his team prepared for the game. “It’s good to have that mentality. It is run by me and the staff but we want to buy from players. Any of his rivals would have been content with the same.
