Football Betting: relegation and weekend outlook

Canbet reacted to last Monday's 1-1 draw at St Andrews between Birmingham and Newcastle by trimming the Blues' price for relegation from the Premier League from 3/1 to 11/4. Last night's stalemate was the ninth game in the league that boss Kevin Keegan has been in charge of the Magpies and it looked like his side was going to slide to another defeat when James McFadden took the home side into the lead in the 33rd minute.St James's Park hero Michael Owen had other ideas however, and the England legend saved his manager's blushes by netting in the second half. Newcastle were eased from 7/2 to 4/1 by Canbet for the drop, and they go a shade under 9/10 that Keegan can bag the first win of his reign on Saturday when the Geordies host fellow strugglers Fulham. That fixture is not the only relegation scrap this weekend. Birmingham must pick themselves up off the canvas for their crucial tie against Reading, who have put some daylight between themselves and the drop zone in the past few weeks.Reading are still 4/1 to go down, but they are 21/20 to see of the challenge of Birmingham, who are a shade over 11/5 to win at the Madejski. Of the other relegation contenders, Derby travel to the Riverside Stadium to try and beat Middlesbrough, while Wigan are around 19/5 away at Blackburn. Sunderland's match-up with high-flying Aston Villa looks an intriguing tie, especially with Martin O'Neill's side trading at as short as 1/2 to win at Villa Park. Sunderland are 9/4 to go down.