The fight to stay in the Premier League will go into the final day as nothing was decided in yesterday’s matches. Middlesbrough, Newcastle United and Hull City will all have to fight their hearts out to try and stay in the Premier League as drama and excitement are two givens.

If a couple of unbelievable results happened then West Bromich Albion would even have a chance of staying up, but any thing other than a win today against Liverpool will see them sent back to the second tier of English football.

Newcastle suffered a terrible loss to Fulham at home, Alan Shearer’s side had ample opportunities to take points away from the fixture but fell behind to a goal from Diomansy Kamara, a strike they never recovered from.

Boro and Hull both took a point from their fixtures but they would have been hoping for a lot more as the gravity of the situation has now kicked in for all the sides scrapping for survival. It will take a lot of guts and a big last day performance in order to get out of this one.

The prospects for Hull are not great. They face a Manchester United side on the last day of the season that will obviously still be rocking from the fact they are once again Premier League champions. Hull will be hoping that United name a much weakened side but this seems unlikely as Sir Alex Ferguson has so often said that even if you have nothing to play for, you owe it to the others to perform.

If Hull win then they stay in the Premier League, this is exactly what Phil Brown will be telling his team all week long. Hull have gone and beaten Arsenal and Spurs in their own grounds this season so they are more than capable of putting in a performance against the best side in Europe.

Newcastle face a tricky trip to Aston Villa but seem most likely of any side involved to get a result. Villa are not performing any where near as well as they were at the start of this season and they may not be able to cope with a Newcastle side that just has to win to stay up. It is important to remember that Newcastle carry the slender advantage of goal difference but they will be gunning for a win.

The financial effect for whoever gets relegated will be disastrous. Although the calibre of football in the Championship is quite high, it is the 4th most watched league in Europe, a loss of around £30-£40 million will hit the pocket of the losers, a figure that will be so hard to cope with.

Survival will come to down to whoever wants it more. Hull have to win to be safe, they must try and do this as Newcastle will no doubt be sweating blood to be in with a chance. Boro and West Brom look like they are goners, but stranger things have happened on the last day of the season and no doubt everyone who supports these clubs will be studying the league table all week long and writing out the possibilities to take with them to these huge matches.

The EPL is back in action with a full slate of games over the next two days after a weekend off for some teams due to FA Cup games.

Tuesday’s matches feature 15th place Sunderland at home to 10th place Fulham, a first vs worst battle, with league leaders Manchester United travelling to Birmingham to take on cellar dwellers West Brom, 12th place Portsmouth is hosting fourth place Aston Villa, and 16th place Tottenham has a huge clash at White Hart Lane against 19th spot Stoke City.

Spurs vs Stoke
Tottenham will be a new-look squad after several signings in the transfer window, however, midfielder Wilson Palacios is suspended for the match against Stoke. Goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini, who just came over from Chelsea in a free transfer, could possibly start in net as first choice keeper Heurelho Gomes is struggling both in net and with a thigh injury. Former Spur Pascal Chimbonda, who was just reacquired from Sunderland, wasn’t registered in time to play.

On the injury front Jermaine Jenas (calf) and top scorer Darren Bent (groin) are back training, while Alan Hutton (foot), Ledley King (hamstring) and Jamie O’Hara (hip) are still out. However, Aaron Lennon (groin), Jonathan Woodgate (back) and Luka Modric (back/hamstring) will be game-time decisions

For Stoke, leading scorer Ricardo Fuller should be back after serving a three-game suspension for slapping team mate Andy Griffin. Defender Danny Higginbotham (calf) will be a game-time decision, while Salif Diao (calf), Mamady Sidibe (knee) and Andrew Davies (knee) are all out injured.

Spurs played on Saturday, losing 2-1 to Man United in the FA Cup. Both teams were winless in the last five league games.

Sunderland vs Fulham
Teemu Tainio is available for Sunderland after serving a one-match ban and George McCartney returns from a long-term foot injury.

For Fulham, Diomansy Kamara (knee) is still out injured.

Fulham beat non-league side Kettering 4-2 with two late goals in the Cup on Saturday, while Sunderland drew 0-0 with Blackburn. Both teams have one only one of their last five league games and Fulham hasn’t won on the road all season.

West Brom vs Man Utd
West Brom is missing captain and former Man Utd player Jonathan Greening after he injured his knee during Saturday’s FA Cup game with Burnley. The club already has four centre-backs injured with Abdoulaye Meite, Jonas Olsson, Leon Barnett and Neil Clement all on the shelf. Ten players in total are out with injuries.

Man United actually have more players on the sidelines with 12 on the injury list. Fabio (calf) and Danny Welbeck (ankle) were hurt in Saturday’s 2-1 Cup win over Spurs. Nani, Rio Ferdinand, Wes Brown, Rafael, and Patrice Evra are still out with injuries, while Anderson, Wayne Rooney, Jonny Evans and Ji-sung Park were also unavailable for Saturday’s game.

West Brom has won three of their last five, while Utd have won all five.

Portsmouth vs Aston Villa
Both teams could feature new signings as central midfielder Hayden Mullins and defender Pele could play for Portsmouth and striker Emile Heskey might see action for Villa.

Pompey is without injured players Papa Bouba Diop and Richard Hughes, but Younes Kaboul might return after missing five-weeks with a back injury. Moral seems to be pretty low, especially after being knocked out of the FA Cup at home to Swansea on Saturday.

For Aston Villa, defender Luke Young returns after missing Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Doncaster because of a one-game ban for receiving five bookings this season, but winger Ashley Young will miss the match as he serves the second game of a three-match suspension for a red card at Sunderland.

Potsmouth has only a draw to show for their last five league games while Villa has four wins and a draw.