It is fair to say that the winner of Saturday's match between Crystal Palace and Aston Villa at Selhurst Park will be all but safe from the drop and can start planning for next season.
The Eagles have flown up the table having hit a rich vein of form at the best possible time, following a surprising but deserved 1-0 win over Chelsea with a comprehensive 3-0 win against Cardiff last weekend.
As a result, they now sit 14th in the Premier League table, seven points above the relegation zone with a game in hand over two of the bottom three.
With matches against the likes of Everton, Manchester City and Liverpool still to come, Tony Pulis's warning that his side still have a long way to go is warranted, but games against Villa, West Ham United and a final-day showdown with Fulham represent enough chances to pick up the points that should take them to safety.
The usual benchmark of 40 points appears to be a little high this year, and the common consensus is that anywhere between 36 and 38 points will be enough. Victory for either side on Saturday would take them into that bracket.
However, Palace have not won three league games in a row since November 2012, while they haven't had a hat-trick of consecutive wins in the Premier League since 1994.
Despite their 3-0 success over Cardiff, Palace still have the worst attacking record in the league, but their tally of just 39 goals conceded is one only Manchester United, Everton, Chelsea and Manchester City can better. League leaders Liverpool have conceded one more goal than the Eagles this season.
That is testament to the work that Pulis has done at Selhurst Park, taking over a job that few people wanted and getting them well on the way to safety when many thought it to be an impossible task. The Welshman has never been relegated as a manager, and that proud record looks like it will continue this season.
Home form has been a large part of their revival, with the fans making Selhurst Park a hostile environment for any team. Chelsea came unstuck in Palace's last home game, and that was their fourth win in their seven home games since the turn of the year.
Players are returning to fitness at the perfect time for Palace too, with Marouane Chamakh back available. Dwight Gayle remains sidelined, but Pulis will find himself in the unusual position of having a choice of strikers to play.
While the Eagles are very much going in the right direction, the same can't be said for Villa. Having enjoyed a fine start to March with wins over Norwich City and Chelsea, three consecutive defeats have left them still searching for the sanctity of safety.
Last weekend's home defeat to Fulham will set alarm bells ringing for Paul Lambert, who has now seen his side concede 10 goals in the last three games.
They are, however, still level on points with Palace and above Saturday's opponents on goal difference, meaning that they too have a seven-point advantage over the bottom three.
Victory would see them move level with 11th-placed West Ham, and should they claim all three points then it would take a remarkable set of results for them to be dragged back into the mire.
However, that would require a turnaround in away form for the Midlands club having not won any of their last five matches on the road, and just one of their last eight.
Having said that, they have picked up as many points on their travels as they have done at Villa Park this season, so the prospect of playing away from home could be appealing to a team that has lost their last two in front of their own fans.
Luck has certainly not favoured Villa on the injury front in recent weeks, with the biggest blow hitting Christian Benteke, who has seen his season and World Cup dreams ended by a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Grant Holt has vowed to grab his chance in the first team with both hands, and he made a decent start with a goal against Fulham, but there is no doubt that losing Benteke is a major blow for Villa.
The likes of Fabian Delph, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Karim El Ahmadi also missed the Fulham game and are doubts again this weekend, although with not many other options available to him, Lambert could ask the trio to play even if they are not 100%.
Recent form
Crystal Palace: DLDLWW
Aston Villa: LWWLLL
Possible starting lineups
Crystal Palace: Speroni; Mariappa, Dann, Delaney, Ward; Puncheon, Jedinak, Dikgacoi, Bolasie; Ledley; Chamakh
Aston Villa: Guzan; Bacuna, Vlaar, Baker, Bertrand; Ahmadi, Westwood, Delph; Weimann, Holt, Agbonlahor
Sports Mole says: 1-0
No Data Analysis info
