Mark Lawrenson gives his verdict on Aston Villa, Watford and Bournemouth relegation

Premier League 2019/20 season comes to its end with an only one game left to play in the league. Liverpool have already crowed as champions, while Manchester United, Chelsea and Leicester City still battle it out for the top-four finish. However, there is also an intense encounter between Aston Villa, Watford and Bournemouth. Three teams are competing with each other to avoid the relegation zone. BBC pundit Mark Lawrenson believes, Aston Villa will get the better of Watford and Bournemouth in their Premier League relegation battle. The gap between the Birmingham side and Watford is one goal as they both sit on 34 points, taking on West Ham and Arsenal respectively. But a loss for both of them could see the Cherries swoop in if they can beat Everton, also sitting on a goal difference -26. Lawrenson wrote: “West Ham are totally safe after Wednesday's draw at Old Trafford, but I always felt they were a better team than their league position suggests. “Villa have already shown they are up for a scrap but the Hammers are playing really well and are full of confidence. The way I see it going, Dean Smith's side will need other results to go their way to stay out of the bottom three - but Watford and Bournemouth will fall short so they will survive, maybe even on goal difference.” But Lawrenson also suggested the race to avoid relegation could go down to the wire. “I would not be surprised if the Hornets and Villa both lose on Sunday, so that goal difference could be crucial in the end,” the pundit added. “But even if their fate was in their own hands, I would not fancy Watford's chances of beating the drop from here. “It was very telling when their goalkeeper Ben Foster described the team's confidence as ‘crazy low’ after they lost 4-0 to Manchester City in midweek, and I don't see them recovering from that. I’m sure a few of the Arsenal players remember Watford captain Troy Deeney saying the Gunners lacked ‘cojones’ after they lost to the Hornets in 2017. “They will want to beat Deeney on Sunday, just to shut him up - although he had a point at the time. They could end up relegating him too. I just think Watford are shot now, after Nigel Pearson's departure last week. This is a huge game for them, but they go into it at rock bottom.” Lawrenson’s predictions are bad news for Bournemouth ahead of their game against Everton. He continued: “To stay up, Bournemouth need to win this game and hope Aston Villa and Watford both lose - but whatever happens elsewhere, I don't see the Cherries getting the result they need. In the past few days, Eddie Howe's side showed a bit of fight to pick up points against Tottenham and Leicester, and they were unlucky to lose against Manchester City. But they never really looked like beating Southampton last time out, and I don't think they are good enough to beat Everton either.” Source: Daily Star