One of the sought after battles in the world of sports, the relegation battle for survival in the Premier League has had a story of its own. We have seen incredible fightbacks from teams who were down but potentially not out. There have been some major setbacks from strong positions too. Over the years, one thing that is for certain is that the fight will go right down to the wire.
The Leicester comeback of 2014-15 is proof that we should not underestimate any team just by looking at its current position in the points table. Jermain Defoe was a kind of player every team dreams of come the end of the season. While some teams are looking strong coming into the final weeks of the season, others are still looking for that ray of hope.
Here is the current table of the Premier League relegation contenders this season:
Going by the last five seasons trend, 35 points are just about enough to avoid relegation. Only Newcastle had 37 points in the 2015-16 season and still faced the drop. Newcastle, Southampton and Crystal Palace have 35, 36 and 38 points at this point of time respectively. Hence, I have not included them in this list. Here are our top five picks for relegation contenders along with their recent performances and key battles that will define the race:
Brighton & Hove Albion--
Current league position: Matches: 32, Points: 34, Current position: 16th
Recent Performance: DDLWW
Games left: Sheffield United(A), Leeds United(H), Wolves(A), West Ham(H), Man City(H), Arsenal(A)
Brighton have secured eight points in their last five games and are looking pretty strong going into the final leg of fixtures. But the run of fixtures are not kind to them. They will need to get maximum points from their next three games before facing West Ham, Manchester City and Arsenal in the last weeks of the season.
They cannot take anything for granted but we can see them getting above the threshold level from here and stay in the top tier of English football for another season at least.
Burnley--
Current league position: Matches: 32, Points: 33, Current position: 17th
Recent Performance: LLLWD
Games left: Wolves(A), West Ham(H), Fulham(A), Leeds United(H), Liverpool(H), Sheffield United(A)
The Premier League has entered the last few weeks of action with Burnley needing some points to secure another season of top flight football. Burnley have a comfortable six points cushion over the bottom three sides.
And to their rescue is the upcoming list of fixtures.They will have to face only two sides- West Ham and Liverpool from the top half of the table. Sean Dyche’s side is at risk but the numbers are in their favour and this battle is theirs to be lost.
Fulham--
Current league position: Matches: 33, Points: 27, Current position: 18th
Recent Performance: DLLLL
Games left: Chelsea(A), Burnley(H), Southampton(A), Manchester United(A), Newcastle(H)
While Fulham were looking good around this time last month when they defeated Liverpool at Anfield and beat Everton at Goodison Park. But in the last five fixtures they have lost four and drew only against Arsenal.
The last four games are slightly more favourable, barring the one against Manchester United, with games against Burnley, Southampton and Newcastle. It will be going to be quite tough to fight back from here though.
West Brom--
Current league position: Matches: 31, Points: 24, Current position: 19th
Recent Performance: WWLDL
Games left: Leicester(A), Aston Villa(A), Wolves(H), Arsenal(A), Liverpool(H), West Ham(H) Leeds United(A)
Sam Allardyce’s clean record of keeping clubs up appears to be on line. West Brom are nine points behind seventeenth-placed Burnley side but West Brom have a game in hand. They have a sweet trajectory in terms of results and have two wins and one draw in the last five.
They put five against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and two against Southampton at home. They will need to build upon this recent upturn in form with the big games coming in plenty.
Sheffield United--
Current league position: Matches: 32, Points: 14, Current position: 20th
Recent Performance: LLLLL
Games left: Brighton(H), Tottenham(A), Crystal Palace(H), Everton(A), Newcastle(A), Burnley(H)
Sheffield United appear to have lost their cutting edge after the lockdown last season. They have failed to ignite this season too, missing fans and several key players to injuries.
All in all, there is no coming back from here, mathematically and mentally both. They have lost all their last five fixtures and should look out for the preparations for next season.
Verdict:
Fulham, West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield United look to be going out. By the recent performances, only club that can surpass this equation would be West Brom but they have a momentous work at hand with a pretty tough round of fixtures coming up.
