I think there will be some twists in the relegation battle before the end of the season with only six points between West Ham and the likes of Leeds and Forest, at the time of writing.

Burnley are 11 points from safety, whilst Wolves are 18 points from safety, so it is fair to assume that there will be one more team that joins this pair in the Championship next season. 

West Ham really struggled in the early parts of the season under Graham Potter, and Nuno Espirito Santo didn’t make a particularly good start to his tenure either - but West Ham have settled down a little more now and definitely have the ability to make up a six-point deficit.

This price for Forest to go down is pretty appealing, Sean Dyche is usually quite good at getting a side out of situations like this, but Forest have the unique factor of European football, which I think could be to their detriment.

The Forest squad isn’t deep enough for Dyche to rotate and get away with it. Forest will be under big pressure and fatigued in their games following a European gameweek, which is where West Ham can look to target in a bid to reduce the gap. 

The six-point gap between the sides may look big at the moment, but it can be cut to three in one weekend, and in that scenario I think Forest would be under a lot of pressure, which makes them a backable option at 8.00 to face the drop.

Palace are nine points clear of the relegation zone at the time of writing, but looked like a club that are worried about the potential of relegation in their January transfer business. Palace spent nearly £100 million on Jorgen Strand Larsen and Brennan Johnson, partially funded by the sale of Marc Guehi, for whom they failed to acquire an appropriate replacement.

Oliver Glasner and Jean-Philippe Mateta are having individual spats with the club, and the fanbase hasn’t helped matters. This instability can quickly see a side crumble into a relegation battle. Whoever goes down from the quartet of West Ham, Forest, Leeds and Palace will be one of the highest quality sides to drop down into the Championship, so none of the sides are ‘too big’ or ‘too good’ to be relegated - the quality of the league makes it ruthless.

Palace’s recent form is really concerning; they’ve failed to win any of their last nine matches in the Premier League and haven’t won a game in any competition this calendar year. I can’t see how things get better for the Eagles in the coming weeks as they face extra matches due to their Conference League responsibilities.

Eddie Howe’s side are regularly stronger in the second half of a season, this was the case last term where they found themselves in a similar mid table position as to where they currently sit before pulling together a string of results to push themselves into a Champions League spot.

The market seems to think that this battle is pretty settled with Chelsea being the longest of the current top six to stay in their spot at 1.13 on Paddy Power. I don’t think this race will end up being that straightforward, and Newcastle are the best positioned to profit from the talent in the squad and the factor of St James’ Park.

Newcastle are currently six points adrift of the top six, and we’d need someone to drop out of those positions for the Magpies to come to a respectable finish. I think Chelsea are still quite vulnerable, and also wouldn’t be surprised to see Liverpool roped into this contest with the duties that the Reds may have in the Champions League, if they go deep. 

I took Newcastle at a similar price at this point of the season last campaign, and they rallied well to get over the line. I’m trusting Eddie Howe’s side to disrupt the established order again this campaign, with a strong second half of the season, which can see the Magpies challenge for a top six finish.

Liverpool have recovered from their slow start to the campaign and are slowly making the ground up on the top four with it looking to be a three-way battle between Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool for this final spot.

Arne Slot has already spoken about his desire to win the Champions League this term, and I think he will focus on that tournament for the rest of the season, given that Liverpool are 12 points behind Arsenal in the race for the Premier League title.

This focus should naturally affect Liverpool’s league position; it is common for a side to slip slightly down the table when prioritising European competition. Liverpool thrive in the Champions League, and there wouldn’t be as much focus on Liverpool’s league standing if they were to lift the trophy.

I also think Manchester United have the advantage in this race, they only play one game a week from now until the end of the season and look to have come to a solid base under Michael Carrick, which can guide them to the Champions League spots.

Marco Silva has done an excellent job again this season, despite having to work on a small budget and with an aging squad. Fulham sit 9th in the Premier League, the race for a top half finish is tight, but Silva’s side notably managed to finish 9th last season, and I think they have a decent chance of registering another top half finish this campaign.

Both Brentford and Sunderland have surprised me this season. I thought both would struggle a lot more than they have, but I do think both have overachieved. Sunderland, in particular, are outperforming their xG by five goals, and their xG against by seven goals.

I don’t think this will be sustainable over the course of the 38 games, while Fulham look to be a side more built for consistency across the entirety of the campaign. Back-to-back 9th-placed finishes in a league as competitive as this would be a solid achievement for Marco Silva, who has always managed to make his sides competitive in the toughest league in the world.

Arsenal have come down to 1.15, on Paddy Power, to win the Premier League, and while they probably are favourites from this point, this price is far too low, and I wouldn’t back it. Manchester City are seen as the only real challengers in the betting market and are priced at 6.0 to close the six-point gap.

Manchester City have been dropping points at crucial moments this season, and missed an opportunity to make up some ground on the Gunners over the last few weeks, with Arsenal only winning one of their last four Premier League matches. Pep Guardiola’s side still have the ability to put together a string of results, but that looks more unlikely than it has in recent seasons.

I do think City will improve when the likes of Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol return, though Arsenal may have pulled too far away by that point. I also think Mikel Arteta’s side will feel the pressure as they get closer to the finish line, which will make this a tighter race than it is currently expected to be.

I wouldn’t advise another bet in the title race at this point. Arsenal are far too short to back given their record of failing to get over the line in recent campaigns, and City haven’t really shown that they will be able to rise to this challenge in what looks to be Guardiola’s final season at the club.

The goalscorer market doesn’t offer much value on its own, but the market for top scorer without Erling Haaland is worth exploring. Igor Thiago is currently the best of the rest with 16 goals to his name, though the Brazilian and Haaland have stalled over recent months which has allowed some of the other players to catch up.

Antoine Semenyo is on 12 Premier League goals, and I wouldn’t put you off backing him at 11.0 to finish as top scorer without Erling Haaland. However, my eye is drawn to Hugo Ekitike, who should get to lead the line for Liverpool for the rest of the season, and is currently on 10 Premier League goals in his debut season. 

Ekitike looks to be growing in confidence every week and has netted 15 goals across all competitions. He scored 22 goals across all competitions for Frankfurt last term, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get close to the 20-goal mark for Liverpool in the Premier League - putting him in a great spot to challenge the likes of Thiago and Semenyo for the runner-up spot in the Golden Boot race.