It’s an intriguing battle at the bottom end of the Premier League table and any one of 9 teams can still realistically face the drop. Swansea are currently 18th in the table, however, with just 8 points between them and 11th placed Leicester, a poor run of results for any side in between could see them playing Championship football next season.
40 points is normally the target for Premier League survival and there are a few teams lurking around that mark. Leicester City, Burnley and Watford all look likely to reach that target within the coming weeks, however, teams like Stoke City, West Ham, Crystal Palace and Hull City are still right in the mix.
Stoke City, since drawing with Manchester City are in horrific form at the moment. They have lost their last 4 matches and face Hull City in a real six-pointer this weekend. Should they lose, Hull will close the gap to just 3 and with matches coming up against all their rivals at the bottom end of the table, they will need to find a winning formula soon.
West Ham managed their first win in 6 last weekend with a home win against Swansea. A win against a truly awful Sunderland side this weekend should be enough to ensure survival, but a loss could see them in trouble as they have a tough run in with games against Everton, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur on the horizon.
Crystal Palace, with 5 wins in their last 6, should be safe. They are definitely on an upward curve and with Christian Benteke and Wilfried Zaha on top-form, they should have enough about them to ensure their survival in the coming weeks. Impressive wins over Chelsea and their 3-0 destruction of an Arsenal side in crisis, looks to have installed a belief that was sorely missing at the start of the season.
Hull City’s recent form has been decent, but they are far from safe. They have a reasonable run-in and from the top sides, they have just to face Tottenham Hotspur on the last day of the season. Remarkably, they have won 6 and drawn 1 of their last 7 home matches and no team will relish going to the KCOM Stadium in the coming weeks.
Middlesbrough and Sunderland look doomed this season. Between them, they have scored 19 goals less than Chelsea and an over reliance on veteran striker Jermaine Defoe looks to have cost Sunderland their place in the Premier League.
This weekend will tell us a lot about the relegation battle and which team has the heart for the upcoming fight.
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