Its been a hectic few weeks in the EPL that has seen Man City register their first and second goal-less games of the season as well as losing to Sunderland. Man United losing two in a row, including that unbelievable 2-3 reverse at Old Trafford against Blackburn. Weve also seen Spurs, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea drop points. Yep, its all been happening at breakneck speed taking us up to the FA Cup third round this weekend and a juicy Manchester derby.

Weve now just surpassed the half-way mark of the season and with said FA Cup matches on this weekend I thought it would be a good chance to see how the season has gone so far as well as how it might finish.

Way back at GW3 I did an article called "<a href="http://tooserious.net/runcis-top-corner-going-down">going down[/url]" which touched on title contenders but mainly focused on who I thought would get relegated. Ive covered all teams this time and as such theres a fair bit of meat to it, so Ive broken it into two articles - join me over the break for the first installment focusing on the relegation candidates...<!--more-->

<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/table/default.stm">League Table[/url]

Fulham

I thought Fulham would struggle this year. The main reason being the constant managerial upheaval at the club.

Martin Jol is the main man now, although he doesnt appear to be the most popular with some, if reports are to be believed. Rumours persist, despite denials, that hes fallen out with Bobby Zamora and Andy Johnson.

Theyve been consistent with their inconsistency this season but it looks like theyve less to worry about than some. With Hangelaand, Murphy, Zamora and Dempsey as well as Ruiz, Frei and Sa showing some promise, they should have enough in the tank.

Villa

Villa have disappointed this season. Its true theyve missed the departed Ashley Young and Stewart Downing, but they still have plenty of quality there. They proved that with their win at Chelsea.

Ireland showed that he still has what it takes with his performance at Stamford Bridge while Albrighton (who the Villa fans have been calling for all season) seems to have gained a starting spot in McLeishs team. Agbonlahor has regained confidence although is seeing little service, while Petrov has been given a bit more license to go forward and has scored a few.

McLeish never has and never will be flavour of the month with Villa supporters and if they have an extended run of poor results its going to turn nasty, with a possible free-fall on the cards. However, I dont think it will come to that. Safe!

* Robbie Keane on loan would be an excellent signing.

WBA

Another team that have found goals hard to come by and are in fact the lowest scorers at home with a paltry seven . Ive never considered Roy Hodgsons teams to be prolific scorers right enough, so its not a huge surprise. What did surprise though was a proven scorer like Odemwingie struggling to find the back of the net. It was clear that he had injury problems earlier in the season though he seems to be hitting his straps now. WBA were teetering on the brink of the bottom three recently and its no coincidence that a resurgence in form for Odemwingie, saw West Brom go on a three game unbeaten run that catapulted them up the table.

Brunt, Long and Odemwingie will be crucial to WBAs continued existence in the EPL and with the vastly experienced Roy Hodgson at the helm I think theyll stay up.

*Brunt out for 8-10 wks is a massive blow, but I think theyll still stay up

Norwich

Grant Holt, as well as Morison, Hoolahan and Pilkington (when playing) have been big players for them this year. Their biggest player is without doubt manager Paul Lambert though. As a player he was often seen to have his limitations, that was until Borussia Dortmund snaffled him up from Motherwell. A year and a bit later he left Dortmund with hero status and a UEFA Champions League winners medal in his back pocket, after keeping Zinedine Zidane quiet in the final. Thank you very much!

His managerial career (at least at Norwich) appears to be mirroring that of his playing career. Hes getting the best out of players with limitations.

I had Norwich going down this year as I felt that when the injuries and suspensions bit they simply wouldnt have the strength and depth to cope. Last year Blackpool got off to an excellent start yet still went down and it is still a possibility for the Canaries. However, theyre now sitting on 25pts (40pts is generally seen as the safe mark to avoid relegation) and theyve been aided by the poor points total of a good few teams below them. Ive now got them staying up.

Bolton

It was around about this time last year that Bolton were sitting handsomely in seventh place. What a difference a year makes! Losing players of the calibre of Sturridge(loanee) and Elmander as well as long-term injuries to Chung-Yong Lee and Stuart Holden has certainly blunted their attacking threat. The club captain, former talisman and big, bruising and sometimes brutal centre-forward Kevin Davies, seems to be in serious decline which doesnt help matters much. This year hes developed a goal-scoring record of Emile Heskey-esque proportions.

Bolton , however, do have some real quality in their team when firing, which means despite only four wins this season, they were able to take four goals off QPR and five of Stoke. They need greater consistency from the likes of Petrov, Klasnic and Eagles.

The likes of Blackburn and Wigan have shown better form in recent weeks so its probably a surprise that Ive got Bolton to stay up.

Wolves

Wolves are slightly lacking in quality and contrary to what their early season form suggested, they are in for one hell of a battle to stay in the PL. Although you get the impression that Mick McCarthy wouldnt have it any other way! one look at that giant battle-scarred face of his would tell you that hes not one to shirk away from a scrap.

Another man whos shown hes not scared of a battle is loanee signing from Arsenal  Frimpong. He may only be 19 but hes already a beast of a man and I think he could be a big signing for Wolves.

Steven Fletcher has been immense (when not injured) and hes been loving the recent service supplied by Matt Jarvis whos back in form. However, if Fletchers goals dry up then Wolves are in deep strife. Ive got them staying up ... just!

Wigan

During last years miracle escape, the Wigan supporters produced a banner that simply stated "BELIEVE". During the Latics horrendous run this season, some supporters turned up at the training ground and presented the same banner for the manager and players. I like this story! It warms my heart. As a neutral looking on, these are the type of supporters that deserve a top-flight team (Walesy are you still cool for that slab? )

This is the sort of support that Wigan will require if they are to stay up this year. I thought theyd push on a bit from last season but their shocking run of nine straight defeats put paid to that.

Theyve recovered reasonably well though and during December, their "month of death", they managed to take a point off both Liverpool and Chelsea. Theres been a couple of dodgy games - 0-5 at Old Trafford where Sammon got a ridiculous early red (later rescinded) and also the recent 1-4 against a truly resurgent Sunderland.

Plus points are - Rodallega has finally found his shooting boots as has Moses. While Jordi Gomez has scored a few. These three will be crucial to Wigans safety. They also have experience of surviving a relegation dog-fight unlike say Swansea or QPR. Ive got them staying up... Just!

Swansea

Swansea - who I had going down at the start of the season - have just picked up a crucial win at Villa, their first away win of the season. Theyve got more points on the board than a few but I feel theyre going to need to pick up a couple more away wins to guarantee their safety.

By all accounts they play some good football and are hard to beat at the Liberty Stadium, but theyre not quite clinical enough. Another (potential) problem is their small squad, if they pick up a load of injuries theyre going to struggle big time. Its maybe a bit harsh on them and Im sure others will disagree, but Im going to stick to my guns and say that theyre going down.

Blackburn

Blackburn is another team that I had going down and theyve been cemented in the bottom three all season. With only three wins to their name now. Incredibly one of them was against Arsenal while another was at Old Trafford. Theyve had some horrendous luck befitting of a team at the bottom of the table including a physios room that has players out of action with injuries such as ruptured testicles and heart palpitations.

An element of Blackburn supporters appear to have a pathological hatred of manager Steve Kean, importantly though, he seems to have the backing of the players as well as the owners.

Their main players this year have been Samba (when fit) as well as Yakubu and Hoillet. Its essential these guys remain fit to have any chance of escaping relegation. Only WBA have avoided relegation after sitting bottom of the table at Christmas, I think itll stay that way. Going down.

QPR

Are on a horrendous run of form at the moment with no wins in eight. Taarabt - last seasons Championship player of the year - hasnt quite stepped up to the plate and neither has SWP. One man who has is Helguson although even with his goals QPR are the second lowest scorers with 19 - one more than Wigan.  If he keeps scoring and with Macheda joining on loan, its possible theyll stay up but I think theyve got a big fight on their hands and will certainly need to improve on their home record of a solitary win.

Manager Neil Warnock is no stranger to relegation! Going down!