One win may be enough now for any of the teams battling to avoid relegation from the English Premier League and another nail-biting set of matches is in store tonight as Aston Villa, Leicester, Sunderland, Newcastle and Hull scrap for survival.
Advertisement
Hull are the team in greatest peril after last week’s disastrous home defeat by already-relegated Burnley and much will depend on their result away to Tottenham. If Hull lose, Villa are definitely safe and Leicester will be too in that scenario as long as they avoid defeat against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
Hull are the team in greatest peril after last week’s disastrous home defeat by already-relegated Burnley
But if Hull snatch even a point at Tottenham, all of the other teams under threat will feel a greater urgency to take something from their matches.
The big match at the bottom is Sunderland v Leicester. Both teams know victory will make them safe unless Hull also take three points, but equally they will be aware that a point could be crucial in the final analysis. Stick or twist? – it’s a tricky conundrum for managers Dick Advocaat and Nigel Pearson.
That question is particularly difficult for Pearson, who has brought his team back from the brink by going on the attack. Seven games ago, when Leicester were marooned at the bottom seven points from safety, he had little choice as only an unlikely winning run could save them. Having conjured six wins out of seven, Leicester are three points ahead of Hull and going all-out for victory risks giving up the advantage they have earned.
Leicester City's mascot, Filbert the Fox, shows appreciation along with the Leicester faithful for a run of form which could save the Foxes from a relegation that seemed certain a few weeks ago. Photo: AFP
But if Pearson tries to play safe and still loses, there would be a huge sense of regret at giving up on his attacking policy. The clue will come in the Leicester starting line-up: will Pearson play three at the back with Marc Albrighton and Jeff Schlupp once again in attacking wing-back roles?
Advertisement
In the past month Albrighton and Schlupp have played in that formation on four occasions and Leicester have won every time, scoring 10 goals in the process. In three of those matches, Leicester started with such attacking intent they scored within the first 10 minutes.
The hosts have little choice but to play a much tighter game, as they did at Everton last week when they soaked up pressure before grabbing a 53rd-minute goal and then another late in the match. The previous week, Sunderland conceded at home to Southampton and still won 2-1, but that type of result is a rarity. If Leicester stick to their attacking policy, they should be too good for Sunderland. Since Christmas they have won eight out of 14 when scoring (with just four defeats), which suggests they have a good chance against the low-scoring hosts.
Steve Bruce's Hull City face the toughest test in their quest to stay in the top tier. They face Spurs away on Saturday. Photo: Reuters
Hull should be difficult to fancy at Tottenham, but there is just a suspicion that the hosts are not particularly keen on qualifying for the Europa League again after taking only one point from their last three games. As a result, Swansea (with three straight wins) are bang in contention with Tottenham and Southampton for sixth place (seventh might also bring Europa League qualification depending on the outcome of the FA Cup final).
