EPL: 3 Clubs That Will Be Relegated from the Premier League This Season

While the top clubs' main objective is to get their hands on the coveted Barclays Premier League trophy, the not-so-lucky lowly clubs have only one ambition—avoiding relegation.

The final day of the season is usually a fun-filled and dramatic one. It is song and dance for the clubs that escape the jaws of relegation and heartbreak; pain and misery for those who drop to the second tier.

It is a day full of mixed emotions.

While it is still too early and too close to call, these are the three clubs I reckon will fall victim to the relegation axe come May.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolves are currently rock-bottom of the Premier League. Having played 29 games, Wolves have won just five times, drawn in seven of their matches and lost 17 times—accumulating just 22 points.

Wolves started the season on a high, winning 2-1 against Blackburn on the opening day. They would follow that up with a 2-0 triumph against Fulham at Molineux and a goalless draw at Aston Villa.

Their fortunes changed on September 10 after a 2-0 loss to Tottenham—their first defeat of the season. The lost the following match too, 3-0 to QPR.

A continued poor run of results led to the dismissal of manager Mick McCarthy on February 13 following a disappointing 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Roy Hodgson's West Bromwich Albion.

Ten days later, McCarthy's former assistant Terry Connor was announced as the Irishman's replacement.

Connor's first assignment as manager came against top-four chasing Newcastle, with the match ending 1-1. A promising start.

Connor's next matches, however, were far from impressive; 5-0, 2-0 and 5-0 losses to Fulham, Blackburn and Manchester United respectively.

The former England Under-21 international's appointment as manager has clearly done little to turn Wolves' fortunes around. Under Connor's watch, Wolves have slipped from 18th to 20th—having gained just one point in four matches.

Despite a favourable-looking run of fixtures, Wolves will continue struggling for points and will be ultimately relegated.

Queens Park Rangers

Unlike fellow relegation candidates Wolves, QPR kicked off their season on the wrong foot, losing 4-0 to Bolton at Loftus Road on the opening day.

And despite winning their second game of the campaign against Everton, Rangers were back to losing ways in their third match, a 2-0 defeat to Wigan.

In October, QPR suffered their heavies defeat so far, a 6-0 drubbing by Fulham. Despite a morale-boosting win against neighbours Chelsea later in the month, inconsistency saw Rangers begin dropping further and further into the foot of the table.

In January, Neil Warnock was relieved of his duties as manager, with former Fulham boss Mark Hughes coming in as his replacement.

Like his predecessor, Hughes has struggled to steady QPR's sinking ship. Under Hughes' management, the west London club have gained just five points.

Rangers' latest Premier League encounter was a costly 2-1 loss to fellow strugglers Bolton.

The remaining fixtures don't look any promising for Mark Hughes, either.

QPR have some tough encounters lined-up against Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City.

Rangers' other fixtures will be matches against resurgent Sunderland, tricky Swansea, tough West Brom and the physically imposing Stoke City.

While I am no prophet, I do not see QPR staying up.

Wigan Athletic

The Latics, who have been in the Premier League since 2005, are facing a likely prospect of a return to the Championship.

Despite boss Roberto Martinez remaining adamant that his side have all it takes to avoid the drop, if results do not improve drastically, Wigan have little chance of retaining their Premier League status.

They had a reasonably impressive start to the season, picking up five points from their opening three matches. But a run of eight successive defeats followed, seeing Wigan fall to the bottom of the table.

The Latics have only scored 25 goals so far this season—the lowest of any team in the Premier League.

Even reliable striker Hugo Rodallega has been struggling for goals. The Colombian international has netted just twice this season.

Currently 19th on the log, Wigan are only ahead of bottom club Wolves on goal difference. Perhaps the most encouraging factor for Wigan is that 17th placed Bolton are only one point ahead. The Latics have, however, played a game more than Bolton.

In four of their remaining nine matches, Wigan have to navigate fixtures against all of the "traditional" big four: Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal.

While the other five fixtures are winnable, Wigan will need to be at their very best if they are to succeed in their quest of staying in the EPL.

A Narrow Escape For...

Bolton Wanderers

Form-wise, the Trotters have not been any better than the other above mentioned relegation candidates.

Nonetheless, I am backing Bolton to narrowly escape relegation on the final day of the season, finishing in 17th place.

Blackburn Rovers

Steve Kean's men have been most people's relegation favourites. But an improvement in form since the turn of the year has seen Rovers climb up the table from 20th to their current position of 16th.

Still only three points from the relegation places, Blackburn are by no means out of the relegation scrap but I reckon they will maintain their recent run and finish 16th.