Newcastle United dropped into the relegation zone on Saturday following their loss at Arsenal and away wins for Crystal Palace, West Ham and Huddersfield.

The Magpies had their chances at the Emirates and on another day might have picked a point, but the bottom line is Newcastle have picked up just one point from a possible 27.

Rafa Benitez’s side are 6/4 (from 9/4) to be playing Championship football next term with BetVictor and they face another big test against a resurgent West Ham at the London Stadium on Saturday. The Irons are 23/20, with Newcastle 27/10 at BetVictor and the draw at 12/5.

Sunderland ended a 364-day wait for a home win when they beat Chris Coleman’s old club Fulham and, like London buses, I expect the second home win of 2017 to come along this weekend when Birmingham City are the visitors to the Stadium Of Light.

The Blues have lost their last three and four out of their last five and the Black Cats are only even money to back up their win against Fulham. Chris Coleman’s side are even money with BetVictor with Birmingham 29/10 and the draw at 12/5.

Three clean sheets out of the last five games has helped and what a goal from Josh Maja on debut showing strength and composure within five minutes of coming on. The Black Cats remain 33/1 at BetVictor for a top half finish and three points against bottom-of-the-table Birmingham should ease them further away from the drop zone although an away win would see the second-city club leapfrog Sunderland and push the Black Cats back into the bottom three at Christmas.

Boro travel to a disgruntled Hillsborough on Saturday with the Owls without a win in their last six and manager Carlos Carvahal having to watch from the stands as “Carlos Out” banner being unfurled from the Wednesday supporters.

Boro lost their third successive game on the road at Millwall on Saturday and must get something out of the game in south Yorkshire given the hosts’ recent run. Gary Monk’s side are 19/10 with the Owls 6/4 and the draw at 23/10 with BetVictor. Boro need at least a point to arrest their slump on their travels but I think they can win in what promises to be a tight, tense but exciting gamer played in a derby atmosphere.

Manchester City extended their winning run in the Premier League to 16 – the longest in the history of top-flight English football against Spurs at the Etihad.

City coach Pep Guardiola had 19 successive Bundesliga wins when managing Bayern between October 2013 and March 2014 and will surely challenge his City team to break that record. City were 3/1 to have 20 or more wins before the weekend but they are only 5/4 at BetVictor given their run of fixtures.

City are 2/1 to win the League Cup ahead of their midweek trip to Leicester City and are just 50/1 to win the clean sweep of Premier League, League Cup, FA Cup and Champions League – they couldn’t?

For all your sporting odds check out BetVictor.com.