Premier League on Betfair: Wigan and Aston Villa fight back as Newcastle fail to win at Upton Park

4May 2013

Betfair

It was a day of high drama in the Premier League as games start running out in the fight to avoid the drop...

Aston Villa and Wigan Athletic proved that they have the nerve to overcome a relegation battle today as both picked up vital wins at Norwich and West Bromwich Albion respectively to pile further pressure on Alan Pardew and his Newcastle team, who only managed a scoreless draw against West Ham at Upton Park.

Paul Lambert's men overcame their manager's old club 1-2, a scoreline that was matched at 34.0 on the Betfair Exchange. A scintillating performance by Gabriel Agbonlahor ensured the the Villans took all three points back to Birmingham in a result that could prove absolutely vital in the relegation scrap, given that it moves Aston Villa on to the much-vaunted 40 point mark and into the relative safety of 13th position. The Midlanders now command a massive 44.0 price to be relegated. Norwich will now be looking over their shoulder again; today's defeat sees them stranded on just 38 points, three above the bottom three. Their price for relegation has now shortened to 4.2, from a high of 36.0 earlier in the campaign.

Wigan's result was a welcome one, but there is more work to do. But although they're still favourites to take that last relegation spot at 2.08, they at least have a game in hand over fellow strugglers Norwich and Newcastle. Today's win was matched as high as 16.5 after they went a goal behind at the Hawthorns and it will certainly give them a confidence boost ahead of an absolutely vital final three games.

Newcastle at least addressed the leaky defending that saw them ship six goals to Liverpool last week, but draws aren't going to help any Newcastle fans sleep more easily at this stage of the season. The Magpies sit on 38 points with Norwich, just one point above Sunderland and two above relegation. If you want to back them to suffer the ignominy of the drop, you can do so at 5.7. Alan Pardew has just two games left against QPR and Arsenal to save the Toon's season.

Also down the bottom, already relegated Reading gave their embattled fans something to cheer with a decent 2-4 win at mid-table Fulham, in a scoreline that was matched at a massive 190.0 on the Exchange. That result moved them off the bottom of the table ahead of QPR's teatime kick off at home to Arsenal. Rangers are now firm favourites to finish Rock Bottom at 1.33, with Reading moving out to 3.0.

Elsewhere in the Premier League, Manchester City played out a drab 0-0 with League Cup winners Swansea, a score matched at 14.5 on Betfair, and Spurs piled the pressure onto Arsenal and Chelsea with another win courtesy of Gareth Bale against Southampton. The game eventually finished 1-0 after it was delayed by half an hour due to an accident outside White Hart Lane earlier in the afternoon. Spurs' odds of securing that vital Champions League spot now sit at 2.3.