Aston Villa vs Newcastle

Tom Allen gets it right again as Villa triumph over sorry Newcastle to send them packing from the Premiership. Newcastle offered little resistance, and as tipped John Carew was a thorn in the Toon’s defence all day. Needing only a draw to stay up, even this was too much for Shearer’s magpies to muster, and consequently Championship football is now their reward.

As another Premier League season draws to an end, any number of possible relegation scenarios could be played out on Sunday afternoon. There are too many to mention here, but it certainly looks like one from three and both Hull and Sunderland have next year’s destiny very much in their own hands.

Victory for that pair would relegate Newcastle to the Championship after 15 years in the top flight. However, were the magpies to get beat (and I see this the likely outcome) results at the KC Stadium where Manchester United are the visitors and the Stadium of Light could prove meaningless.

Having got the better of Middlesbrough last Monday Alan Shearer’s side failed to build upon that result and the defeat that followed at home to Fulham has left them in all sorts of trouble. Newcastle travel to Villa Park to face Martin O’Neill’s troops and while the hosts have relatively little to play for, aside climbing above Everton into fifth, they are still a talented bunch.

Villa were seen as genuine fourth place contenders up until Christmas but a 12 game run that produced just one win has seen them fall away dramatically since the turn of the year. That said, they have improved in recent weeks and after drawing 1-1 at The Riverside last time out, they are a fair bet to condemn a second north-east club to relegation.

Much of Villa’s troubles have coincided with the untimely injury to John Carew, and Emile Heskey’s failure to make any significant impact since his arrival from Wigan. But now back on the pitch, the tall Norwegian has really found his stride in the past couple of months and he’ll fancy his chances of rounding off the campaign in style. By contrast, Shearer must cope without Sebastien Bassong in the heart of defence after being sent off against Fulham, while the likes of Beye, Taylor and Duff (remember him, the flying Chelsea winger?) hardly inspire confidence.

Villa were available to back earlier in the week at bigger than 2.60 but while punters have latched onto them, the 2.45 with Expekt will still do for me. Time and again sides are put in at shorter prices than their true chance reflects as campaigns come to an end. However, although Newcastle need to win, they have shown so little this season that it doesn’t take much convincing to oppose them. Sorry trips to Doncaster, Peterborough await.