42 - The meaning of life, and survival?

Premier League survival was the main aim for the season when we kicked off back in August, and it still is as we enter April.

At the moment we are in the driving seat for securing another season of Premier League football and we sit right at the top of a clutch of clubs who could find themselves dragged into a relegation dogfight come the end of the season.

Do I think we'll end up having to fight for our lives? No, but until it can be completely ruled out you can never discount it entirely so it's always worth keeping an eye on things in and around the bottom of the table.

There is a feeling that three points will be enough to take us over the line, and historically that feeling would seem to bear fruit as only one team has ever been relegated on 42 points since the Premier League has been in it's current format.

The problem is that this season has been notoriously tight and teams have taken points off each other, unexpected points off each other no less. This is great for excitement and for the Premier League, but it's not great for the hearts and minds of the supporters of a team who is trying to pull away from that bottom three.

A win against Villa would put us on 42 points already, although I personally feel that we will be fortunate to win the game. Villa may be struggling at the moment, but they have some fantastic players who are more than capable of getting them a result on Sunday. Their cause won't be helped by that dreaded 'vote of confidence' that Napolean received today as that will crank up the pressure. Hopefully we can capitalise, but I wouldn't bank on us winning the game.

Anyway, I'm rambling off course here and can feel myself getting dragged towards a rant about Aston Villa and their scummy fans, so I'll stop there.

Back on course, 42 points.... Here are the weekend fixtures involving teams that are around us and below, plus what would be the ideal result for us.

Wolves v Everton - Everton win.
Blackburn v Birmingham - Draw.
Bolton v West Ham - Bolton win.
Chelsea v Wigan - Chelsea win.
Man Utd v Fulham - Man Utd win.
Sunderland v West Brom - Draw.
Tottenham v Stoke - Tottenham win.
Blackpool v Arsenal - Arsenal win.
Aston Villa v Newcastle - Newcastle win.

That would put us ten points clear of relegation with only six games left. Obviously not all results will go our way, but the good thing is that a lot of those fixtures see teams that are struggling taking on each other, or teams that are struggling taking on teams at the top of the league. In that respect, even if we lose we will still maintain a gap between us and the rest, and it will chalk off another number from the 'games remaining' tab.

So will 42 points be enough? Maybe, but if it we won't know for a few weeks yet. What is important is to just keep plugging away and to keep doing what we are doing. Let others worry, we'll just worry about ourselves.

How far from safety do you think we are?