Some stats from Kevin Pullein (football genius) in the Racing Post. He studied data from the last 19 seasons, the number for which there have been 20 teams in the prem;
63% of the teams who finished the year in the relegation zone went on to be relegated that season.
Of the teams who finished the year 4-6 points from safety, 90% went on to be relegated.
Of the teams who were more than 6 points from safety, 100% went down.
Taken in isolation, that first stat makes us 6/4 to avoid relegation, although those odds improve significantly if you adjust them to take account of the following;
The second stat makes Reading 10/1 against to stay up - a long shot by any standards.
The third stat effectively dooms QPR.
Other stats from the same article basically suggest that each of Villa, Wigan and Newcastle have a 22% chance of going down, Sunderland, Fulham and West Ham each have an 8% chance of going down, Norwich weigh in at 2% (50/1), and Swansea and above are safe.
Of course as we all know, there are lies, damn lies and statistics. But Kevin Pullein, the author of the article in today's RP, is a man who has consistently made profits from betting on football using his own statistical analyses. He puts his money where his mouth is, in other words.