In this week’s Thursday Throwdown, the Cosh boys discuss the bottom three, as well as the prospect of Newcastle United back in the Premier League.

Which of the two relegation certainties will finish higher, Sunderland or Middlesbrough?

EVERYONE: Boro. They’re slightly less rubbish.

Who would you rather see stay up, Hull City or Swansea?

Mohaned: A month ago, I would’ve blindly said Swansea. Good team that tries to play football in style, well run club, Welsh representative, and have Gylfi Sigurðsson (who by the way deserves a better team). That said, Hull have captured my heart recently. Since the appointment of Marco Silva, you can actually see the improvement in the way they play, their tactics, and their plan (the fact that it exists). Their recent results have been extra impressive; draw at Old Trafford, and beating Liverpool, Swansea, West Ham and Middlesbrough.

Alex: Swansea. Since sacking Monk the club has been a bit of a shambles, but I think they’ve brought a lot of added value to the Premier League since they got promoted under Brendan Rodgers. They usually play good football, it’s a largely well-run club, the fans are good and there’s just very little to dislike about the Swans.

Rishay: Swansea seem to have more mettle overall and have been able to recover into a somewhat ok position considering they had a horrendous start until Bob Bradley was sacked earlier in the season. I think they have also had some really exciting and high scoring games as well, which make them more entertaining than Hull.

Who will be the third team relegated?

Rishay: I would like to see Marco Silva succeed, but Hull get relegated. Weird innit? To be perfectly honest, Swansea will most likely end up going down.

Alex: Crystal Palace. It’s hard for me to fathom Big Sam getting anyone relegated, but I’ve just looked at Palace’s fixtures and they still have to play Arsenal, Leicester, Liverpool, Spurs, Burnley, Manchester City, Hull and Manchester United. That is a seriously tough ask. That game against Hull on the penultimate weekend of the season will be an “absolute six pointer, Clive”.

Mohaned: Looking at the table and knowing the crazy history of the league when it gets to relegation battles and last day drama, its very hard to predict. Any team from Swansea in 18th to Stoke in 12th can get dragged into the battle. I’m going with Sunderland in the end. Yes. They’ll finish in two positions in the bottom three and deservedly get relegated twice, not being allowed promotion next season even if they finish top of the championship.

On a scale of 1-Ecstasy how happy will you be to see Sunderland go down and Newcastle come back up?

Rishay: Well, Moyes doesn’t really help his case at all, so I’d be pretty happy to see Sunderland go down. The team are in a horrendous financial position. No club should have to put themselves under so much debt the way Sunderland have. It’s a recipe for disaster and we’re seeing it. Newcastle are also poorly run….maybe there’s something in the Tyneside air or water that makes this a trend. I’d say I’m neutral overall. I’d quite like both of them to be out of the PL until they can sort themselves out.

Mohaned:  Mixed emotions. Sunderland have deserved to go down for a while and do not offer any entertainment value. Moyes is also boring as hell. So they can go down. As long as Defoe and Pickford get new clubs I’ll be ok. Shame we wont have any Tyneside derby though, with Newcastle most likely coming back up.

Alex: Ecstatic. Sunderland are a waste-club and Newcastle, while still retaining their own brand of shambles, are at least glorious in both victory and defeat. Also, I like Rafa Benitez. I like that he stuck with the club, that he will likely keep them in the Premier League for a long time, and that he will have the chance to test himself once more against the managerial elite.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter.