Friday 30 October 2015 17:26, UK
Sunderland, Bournemouth and Aston Villa will all be looking to defy the odds live on Sky Sports this weekend but are the bookies right in tipping them for the drop? We ask the Soccer Saturday pundits...
The Black Cats travel to Everton on Super Sunday before Eddie Howe's Cherries make the relatively short trip to south-coast rivals Southampton, then, on Monday Night Football, the Premier League's bottom side Aston Villa visit Tottenham.
Find out what the pundits are predicting this weekend in their Sky Bet tips here.
Sky Bet's relegation markets make them all odds-on to go down but we asked the Soccer Saturday pundits who they expect to face the drop after 10 games.
Here's who the guys are tipping to be playing Championship football next season...
Matt Le Tissier: Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Norwich (18/1 with Sky Bet)
Norwich have hit the buffers a little bit after a promising start, losing their last three with another defeat looking inevitable at Manchester City on Saturday. As for Bournemouth, well injuries have just cost them too much. They would've had a real chance with everybody fit but it looks a tough ask now. My other team would be Aston Villa at the moment; I watched them on Wednesday night and there's not a lot about them.
Charlie Nicholas: Watford, Newcastle and Bournemouth (66/1 with Sky Bet)
Watford haven't got the goals in them and, from what I've seen, if they don't score first then they're done. It's up to Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo alone to get them out of trouble. As for Newcastle, well Steve McClaren needs to get to January and get at least two defenders as they look so exposed. I worry for Bournemouth as well and I wonder how they can tighten up their defence when they don't have the players to do it.
Paul Merson: Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Norwich (18/1 with Sky Bet)
Villa are in disarray. I thought it was a bit early to sack Tim Sherwood considering he kept them up last season, they would've gone down last year if it wasn't for him. They've sacked him and got no one in, how can you sack someone and then not have a replacement lined up? As for Bournemouth, they have been real unlucky with their injuries but they need to start winning quickly or they're going to be in serious trouble. I watched the Norwich game last week and they were poor, they usually make a lot of chances and they struggled against West Brom.
Phil Thompson: Sunderland, Aston Villa, Bournemouth (11/2 with Sky Bet)
I know Sunderland won last week but it was against 10 men so I don't see it changing much and I can see them still being down there. Aston Villa can't defend, they can't score goals, so they look like they'll be in trouble. Then there's Bournemouth, who were probably already a lot of people's bets to be down there, but I think having long-standing injuries, basically one key player in each department, has done it for them. Then they've got Artur Boruc in goal making mistakes, so it doesn't bode well for them this season.
