With five games remaining in the Premier League season, the top of the table is coming into focus, while the bottom remains a convoluted mess. In this weekend's preview, we look at both ends of the standings.
• Manchester United hosts Tim Howard and Everton on Saturday morning (7:30 a.m. ET on ESPN2 and ESPN3.com). United is undefeated at home this season and has tied a club record with 12 straight Premier League wins. Everton's last win at Old Trafford was in 1992, and the Toffees have managed only three draws in 17 matches there since then.
• Holding a six-point lead over Chelsea and Arsenal with five matches remaining, Manchester United appears primed for a record 19th league title. After Arsenal's midweek draw at Tottenham, ESPN's Soccer Power Index rates United a 95.8 percent favorite to win the Premier League. Chelsea is second at 2.5 percent, and Arsenal's hopes are 1.6 percent.
• At the bottom of the table, Wigan's win at Blackpool on Saturday shook up the relegation battle significantly. Before that victory, SPI considered the Latics a near lock to be sent down. But the surprising 3-1 win reduced Wigan's relegation percentage to 64.6 percent, and the loss put the Seasiders in the basement of SPI's projections, as Blackpool gets dropped in three-quarters of the simulations.
• Wigan manager Roberto Martinez has targeted 40 points as the threshold to avoid relegation. Since the Premier League was reduced to 20 teams in 1995-96, only three teams have been sent down with 40 or more points, most recently West Ham eight years ago. Over the past 15 years, the average number of points won by the secure 17th-place team is 38.5.
• Relegation-threatened Blackburn hosts Manchester City to finish off the Premier League's extended weekend on Monday at 2:55 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and ESPN3.com. After defeating West Brom on Jan. 23, Blackburn was projected to finish in 12th place, with only a 1.7 percent chance of being sent down. But Rovers are winless in nine straight games since then and now sit two points clear of the relegation zone, with a 31.3 percent chance of being dropped. Blackburn's nine-game winless stretch is tied with Sunderland for the league's longest current winless streak.