English Premier League: Relegation Battle Heats Up on Saturday

On Saturday, four of the bottom five clubs in the English Premier League take to the pitch to face off in two matches that could go a long way in deciding the relegation battle this season.

In the two matches, 18th place Bolton will host last-placed Wigan Athletic, while 19th place Blackburn Rovers will host 16th and the newest relegation contender Queens Park Rangers.

In the match between Bolton and Wigan at the Reebok Stadium, Wigan will look to avenge a 3-1 loss at home to the Trotters in October in a must-win game.

The Latics have struggles mightily this season and they need positive results soon before it is too late and they are too far behind their relegation rivals in points.

Some could argue that the club's manager, Roberto Martinez should be sacked but he did lead the club out of the relegation zone to survival at the end of last season.

Bolton have gotten results as of late, including a 3-1 win over Liverpool and a 0-0 draw with Arsenal, to push them up to a total of 20 points and into 18th place.

A win at home on Saturday will most likely boost the Trotters out of the relegation zone as they sit only one point behind Wolves and QPR in the table.

In the other match effecting the relegation battle this weekend, Blackburn will host QPR in a battle of clubs that can not seem to find a identity this season.

After suffering terrible form at the beginning of the season, Blackburn had looked to turn everything around after drawing with Liverpool and then beating Manchester United at the end of December.

But results have turned sour again at Ewood Park, with a two-game losing streak and with the club being beaten by a combined 9-1 score during the current losing streak.

The absence of Yakubu, who is the club's leading goal scorer with 13 goals, due to a red card suspension is hurting the club and it looks like the Nigerian will be back for Saturday's game.

For Queens Park Rangers, they have a roster that is chock full of Premier League veterans but they cannot put a consistent run of form together.

Mark Hughes has taken over as manager from Neil Warnock, but not much has changed as QPR have only one win in their last 12 games and have fallen to 16th place in the table with only 21 points.

With the signings of Djibril Cisse from Lazio and Bobby Zamora from Fulham, the R's have no excuse not to score goals in the final months of the season, although Cisse was hit with a red card in last week's match with Wolves and will miss the next three games.

Although many people following the Premier League this season are focused on the title race, the relegation race is yet again heating up and could come down to the last day of the season just like in 2011.

These two matches on Saturday will go a long way in determining the fate of these four clubs and their survival hopes.