Three Teams Who’d Get Relegated From The Premier League At The End Of The Season
Premier League football is approaching its closure of yet another entertaining campaign where the relegation battle is heating up with every passing week. With 8 gameweeks remaining, there are at least 8 teams fighting to stay up in the league and finish anywhere other than the bottom three places of the table.
Although West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City, and Crystal Palace are currently occupying the final three slots, things might alter at any moment as the teams are placed quite close to each other in terms of points gathered from 30 outings and we might expect a thrilling conclusion of Europe’s most competitive football league.
Based on the games in hand, we have computed the ‘bottom three’ who might face relegation and compete in the Championship next season.
West Bromwich Albion
The Baggies had a surprise tenth-placed league finish last season under Tony Pulis who, despite being notoriously known for playing ‘negative football’, managed to establish the West Midlands outfit as a stable Premier League outfit in the past years.
However, things went completely out of favour for them this season and a series of disastrous outcomes resulted in Pulis’ dismissal. The Welshman was replaced by veteran Alan Pardew who had previous experience of battling it out for relegation sides and helping them escape a drop. The arrival of Pardew did not change their fate much and six back-to-back Premier League defeats have now jeopardised his position as the manager of West Bromwich Albion.
They brought in Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge on loan to crawl out of the drop zone but the Englishman’s never-ending injury concern is not helping the Baggies at all. They are currently placed 20th in the league table with 8 points off safety and need to grab at least 6 wins out of the remaining 8.
They are yet to contest Manchester United, Liverpool, and Tottenham Hotspur – three of the ‘top four’ sides and it will be an uphill task for the Baggies to maintain their top-flight status.
Stoke City
Stoke City, too, parted ways with Mark Hughes following a shocking spell of defeats and although they have brought in former Norwich City and Aston Villa gaffer Paul Lambert to script a rescue, the remaining fixtures are not likely to favour them either. The Potters, currently 19th in the league with a game in hand against league leaders Manchester City, have lost only once in their last six games.
However, they have managed four draws out of those and have grabbed only one win, which was against new boys Huddersfield Town. Stoke are yet to play against Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs in the remaining 8 of their fixtures and need to grab at least 13 points from those.
They, however, still hold an opportunity for survival if they secure wins over fellow relegation battlers West Ham United, Crystal Palace and Swansea City in their final few fixtures. The chances are slender and we might have to wait until the very end to have the confirmation.
Southampton
A well-established Premier League side is in a complete mess this season under new boss Mauricio Pellegrino who has further jeopardised Saints’ survival hopes after their 3-0 defeat against fellow survival aspirers Newcastle United. Although they are currently one point clear of the drop zone, the fixtures they have are going to trouble them a lot in the coming weeks.
The team is lacking motivation, composure and the off-form of several first-team stars have left them with little hope of grabbing wins over the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal, Leicester City, Swansea City and Manchester City out of the remaining 8 encounters.
It’s still not over but what they need are victories. Draws will not be good enough to maintain their presence in the league, something they have done with distinction in the past few years despite losing their best men to Premier League rivals.