Betting.Betfair

It was as if the season had never even happened. West Ham, Wigan and Wolves in the relegation places, right where they started as the alphabetized league, before a ball had been kicked, intended. Recently Wolves have spoiled the fun rather for those wanting to see the three Ws go down for witty repartee - www.financialoblivion.com a starter for ten.

For those who are not a fan of those three clubs or Blackpool and have yet to stake their hard earned on the relegation outcome, it is, of course, no laughing matter.

Certainly in the case of West Ham and Wigan, if they fall through the trap door they will more than bruise their pride when they land in the Championship. West Ham believe relegation would cost them £40m that they just don't have. Wigan are in debt to the tune of £50m.

When it comes to the dreaded drop, it is always a numbers game; financial, games played and points won. Sadly for West Ham they are in a horrible mess on all three fronts. Rock-bottom, if they lose to Wigan on Saturday in a £90m six pointer, they are down.

Four points adrift of safety with only two games left, it is no surprise Avram Grant's team have been almost written off. They are 1.11 to sink and anyone who saw their first-half performance against Blackburn last time out will not be putting their head on the block.

The Hammers were lethargic and second to every ball in that crucial game. There is a gloom which hangs over Upton Park and the players and management seem incapable of shining a light to find an exit strategy.

Blackpool, too seem doomed. As much as the neutral would surely love to see Ian Holloway's team survive, they just aren't good enough. Over the last eight games they sit 20th in the form table and with Manchester United away on the final day of the season, laying them for relegation at 1.33 is surely only the play of someone still inebriated from a stag weekend at the famous seaside town.

With Blackburn and Birmingham needing only a point to reach the magical 40-point mark, value seekers must analyse the chances of Wolves and Wigan for a wager.

In their last three games Wolves, who have the second worst defence in the section on clean sheets, have beaten West Brom, drawn with Birmingham and lost to Stoke. The results sequence perfectly sums up their season. They have never managed consistency and they have only twice managed to avoid defeat in their next game after a win. So Sunderland away on Saturday looks a difficult proposition.

It is Wigan where the value lies, in a roundabout sort of way. They played superbly against Aston Villa last time out and appear to have found form at exactly the right time. They are 12th in the form table, a place above Wolves, and they have been blessed in that the fixture computer has been kind: a dispirited West Ham followed by a Stoke side who, no matter what the result of the FA Cup final, will find it hard to match their opponents' intensity on the last day.

So how to bet? Well, with Wolves 2.76 to go down it would make sense to take those odds instead of laying Wigan at 1.47. With such a strategy we keep a miracle on our side, chiefly God smiling on Blackpool or West Ham or taking a disliking to Birmingham or Blackburn.

Remaining fixtures - West Ham (19th last eight form table): Wigan (a), Sunderland (h); Wigan (12th): West Ham (h), Stoke (a);Blackpool (20th): Bolton (h), Man Utd (a); Wolves (13th): Sunderland (a), Blackburn (h).

Best bet: Wolves to go down @ 2.76
For more football betting articles, go to http://betting.betfair.com/football/