Biggest Premier League Questions Heading into Tuesday's Matches

Perhaps the greatest part about the Premier League is that almost every match matters. Although none of the top four play on Tuesday, and only one of the three teams in the relegation zone is set to go, the three matches all hold serious intrigue as the season stretches into its final chapters.

With Southampton hosting Crystal Palace and looking to stay in the race for a Champions League spot, Aston Villa hosting West Brom and hoping to push out of the bottom three and Sunderland traveling to Hull City on the edge of the relegation zone, storylines abound in Tuesday’s matches.

Here are the top questions facing the teams that kick off this round of Premier League matches on Tuesday.

Is Southampton’s magical season coming to an end?

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It feels like every season a team climbs out of the mid-table doldrums of the Premier League and makes us all believe that they will challenge for a spot in the top four. And, like clockwork, that team sees its magical run come to an end and falls back to the middle of the table.

This season, there were two teams who were seen as potential challengers for the powers that be in the league: West Ham and Southampton.

But while the Hammers have since slipped back into the rank and file, it was the Saints that continued to surprise teams by holding on to a top-four or top-five spot. After three straight games of dropped points though, Southampton has slipped to sixth and is on the verge of collapse.

A game against 12th-place Crystal Palace this week could be one of the most important of the season for the Saints, as they aim to earn a spot in Europe this year.

But if the result is anything but a win against Palace Tuesday, things could get dicey for Southampton, who travels to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea in its next Premier League match.

The Saints have been the surprise team of the year and have had a great run, but after a string of poor results, things are teetering on the edge and could get ugly for Southampton.

Can Aston Villa score?

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Remember at the beginning of the season when Aston Villa was sitting in the top four in the Premier League, with 10 points taken in its first four matches?

Neither do I, because since then, the Villans have been absolutely atrocious, taking just 12 points from their last 23 matches. This has been almost entirely because of an offense that has, to say the least, been the worst seen in the Premier League in years.

Scoring only 13 goals all season, Villa needs to find some sort of rhythm offensively if the team is going to avoid its first relegation since the 1986-87 season. With skilled players like Christian Benteke up front, the team has the talent necessary to score, but it hasn’t shown the ability to do so.

West Brom will head to Villa Park and look to add its name to this list of teams that have claimed a clean sheet against the the Villans this season. Considering West Brom's recent form, that wouldn’t be the most surprising result either.

The Baggies haven’t allowed a goal in their last four matches in all competitions, and there couldn’t be a better team in the league to face to keep that streak alive than Aston Villa.

Which team can keep just ahead of the relegation zone?

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While all eyes are focused on the unusually tight battle at the top of the table this year, things are similarly tight in the relegation zone as well.

While Leicester City seems like a solid pick to get sent down this year, the five teams above them are separated by just four points.

Two of those teams, 16th-place Sunderland and 15th-place Hull City, are set to face off on Tuesday. Neither team is currently in the bottom three, and neither can fall into it after this round of fixtures, but both will desperately be looking for a win to separate themselves from the scrap at the bottom.

The teams are heading in opposite directions, with Hull having won two of its last three while Sunderland hasn’t won a league match since January, but a win today could mean so much come May, when the final table is set.

Last time this fixture was played, Hull came out on top 3-1 on the road. The Tigers will be looking for a repeat to pull themselves out of the dangerous battle and avoid relegation.