The THREE Premier League teams who will be relegated according to the bookies..

Despite being 4th from bottom, bookmakers make the Toon 11/10 favourites to be relegated, with Aston Villa and Sheffield United also backed to go down.

It’s fair to say that it’s not often they’re wrong, but Steve Bruce and co will be praying they are this time around.

Here's the latest odds according to Sky:

Grim reading, but oh what basis do they make us favourites? Surely this is not just based on our current form and league position. Maybe they’re taking into account the general mood around the club, the turmoil once again and the potential for points from our end of season fixtures.

Among our last 5 games, we face Manchester City, Liverpool and Spurs, not exactly what you want to see if you’re in a dog fight at the end of the season.

The manger needs to change things and I think we are all agreed, we need to dip into the transfer market in January.

We certainly cannot count on the latter but Steve Bruce can change his tactics.

Today Steve Bruce has blamed injuries for his defensive style. I don’t buy it. He appears to be counting on Andy Carroll's return to the team and feels he's not had a fit squad as of yet, however he's not exactly been starved of attacking talent with his new £40m striker, Almiron and an in-form Atsu. A good manager never blames his tools?

Andy is a good target man and a handful for any defence. His appearance should be regarded as a bonus and not a necessity.

Realistically, how many games will we get from Andy, with so many questions surrounding his history with injuries?

Every fan will be hoping the new rumours of a takeover have some substance to give us all a much needed lift - although it could have the opposite effect if this is yet another failed 'attempt'.

We certainly wont hold our breath.