Well boys and girls, it's that time of year where we get to see the battle in the back half of the EPL table as teams seek to avoid demotion out of the Premier League and down to the EFL Championship Division. Bottom three teams will go down, and right now it looks like this could be a great relegation battle (which we need after last season when we were pretty much done and dusted with 10 matches left). Tottenham's entry into the relegation battle is not something I had on my radar, but here we are. Looks like the possibility of one of the big clubs going down this year is a real one, and we are all but assured that one of Leeds, Forest, West Ham and Tottenham will be relegated. Looks like it will take more points this year to secure safety than we have had the past 4-5 seasons, so should be a great final few months of the season!
Current Standings
Team. Matches Played. Points. Goal Differential.
15. Leeds United 29 31 -11
16. Spurs 29 29 -7
17. Nottingham Forest. 29 28 -15
18. West Ham 29 28 -19
19. Burnley. 29 18 -26
20. Wolves 30 16 -30
Leeds United. Leeds started the season slowly but has been better since December. They only lead 18th place West Ham by 3 points, so they are squarely in the battle. Looks like it's going to take 40 points this season to secure safety, so with 9 matches left they have some work to do. Leeds main problem has been claiming 1 point draws instead of wins. Leeds will play four of the other five relegation battlers on the lead in, so their fate will be firmly in their own hands. Win those 4 and the remainder of the games are largely irrelevant.
Tottenham Hotspur. I don't recall ever having Spurs as a part of this relegation discussion, but they are right in the middle of it, just one point clear of 18th place West Ham. The troubling part for Spurs is that they are playing their worst football of the season right now, having dropped their last 5 PL matches. Their last win in the PL was December 28. Ouch. Spurs get 3 other relegation teams in the final 9, so there is opportunity, but the club needs wins desperately. With their Champions League blowout last night, the club should be able to turn their attention to staying up in the EPL for next season.
Nottingham Forest. Since their return to the EPL, Forest have flirted with relegation fairly consistently and are now out of the bottom three only on goal differential. The club is also in the midst of a Europa League run, so will be interesting to see how they handle the fixture logjam and player minutes. The team is a legit contender to win a European Cup, but would they risk an EPL spot to claim one? Forest only has 2 points from their last 5 EPL matches, so the tables need to turn on their EPL results or relegation is a real issue.
West Ham. Like Forest, the Hammers seem to be regulars in the relegation battle, always finding a way to avoid dropping down a flight. The club has been playing much better of late, claiming 8 points from their last 5 matches. That has closed the gap with Forest, Spurs and Leeds. The Hammers only have 2 matches remaining with their other bottom dwellers and have arguably the hardest run in of the teams, so points will be at a premium
Burnley and Wolves. The drop off after West Ham to the bottom 2 clubs is quite drastic, as Burnley trail safety by 9 points and Wolves by 12. Both clubs have played better as of late, Wolves especially, but it looks like too little too late to stay up this season. Would take a tremendous run by either team to stay out of relegation this season.
Looking forward to keeping track of this again and will mix in some promotion/relegation talk as well for all the lower levels.
Current Standings
Team. Matches Played. Points. Goal Differential.
15. Leeds United 29 31 -11
16. Spurs 29 29 -7
17. Nottingham Forest. 29 28 -15
18. West Ham 29 28 -19
19. Burnley. 29 18 -26
20. Wolves 30 16 -30
Leeds United. Leeds started the season slowly but has been better since December. They only lead 18th place West Ham by 3 points, so they are squarely in the battle. Looks like it's going to take 40 points this season to secure safety, so with 9 matches left they have some work to do. Leeds main problem has been claiming 1 point draws instead of wins. Leeds will play four of the other five relegation battlers on the lead in, so their fate will be firmly in their own hands. Win those 4 and the remainder of the games are largely irrelevant.
Tottenham Hotspur. I don't recall ever having Spurs as a part of this relegation discussion, but they are right in the middle of it, just one point clear of 18th place West Ham. The troubling part for Spurs is that they are playing their worst football of the season right now, having dropped their last 5 PL matches. Their last win in the PL was December 28. Ouch. Spurs get 3 other relegation teams in the final 9, so there is opportunity, but the club needs wins desperately. With their Champions League blowout last night, the club should be able to turn their attention to staying up in the EPL for next season.
Nottingham Forest. Since their return to the EPL, Forest have flirted with relegation fairly consistently and are now out of the bottom three only on goal differential. The club is also in the midst of a Europa League run, so will be interesting to see how they handle the fixture logjam and player minutes. The team is a legit contender to win a European Cup, but would they risk an EPL spot to claim one? Forest only has 2 points from their last 5 EPL matches, so the tables need to turn on their EPL results or relegation is a real issue.
West Ham. Like Forest, the Hammers seem to be regulars in the relegation battle, always finding a way to avoid dropping down a flight. The club has been playing much better of late, claiming 8 points from their last 5 matches. That has closed the gap with Forest, Spurs and Leeds. The Hammers only have 2 matches remaining with their other bottom dwellers and have arguably the hardest run in of the teams, so points will be at a premium
Burnley and Wolves. The drop off after West Ham to the bottom 2 clubs is quite drastic, as Burnley trail safety by 9 points and Wolves by 12. Both clubs have played better as of late, Wolves especially, but it looks like too little too late to stay up this season. Would take a tremendous run by either team to stay out of relegation this season.
Looking forward to keeping track of this again and will mix in some promotion/relegation talk as well for all the lower levels.
