With the Premier League back that means all things can now be tied up including the title itself, European places and of course relegation. There was some brief talk of declaring the season null and void, which would have avoided all of this and something that the relegation threatened teams may have welcomed. However with football here to stay the excitement and nervousness will draw in. Let’s take a look at the teams who are and could be heading for relegation:
Norwich are of course bottom of the league and have 21 points. They are 6 points from safety but it only takes one of those teams to push on to put the Canaries in grave danger. They do have 24 points to play for but they would probably have to win 18 of those points to have any chance of staying up. Losing 3-0 at home to Southampton in their last game has not helped their cause.
The club will play Everton tonight which will be a tough game and that will be followed by an away match at Arsenal. There are also games against Chelsea and Manchester City in the mix and we would conclude that Norwich will be going down this season.
Norwich predicted total points: 26
Aston Villa have just come up this season but Dean Smith’s side have struggled at times and could be going straight back down. That isn’t to say that the club haven’t shown some quality but they certainly have looked out of their depth sometimes and simply have not been able to find enough consistency.
Villa have lost 18 games this season including 4 of their last 5 matches and have yet to win since the restart, drawing against Sheffield United and losing against Chelsea.
However the club do have 26 points and are just one point from safety, a run of 2-3 wins could make all the difference. But where are they going to get those points? Villa’s next 3 fixtures are against Wolves, Liverpool and Manchester United. They also have to play tough games against Arsenal and Everton and in the last day of the season they will play West Ham it what could well end up being a finale clash to see who goes down between them. But there is no doubting that Villa have a very hard run in.
Aston Villa predicted total points: 31
Bournemouth are currently in 18th place and holding that final position to go down. But the good news for the club is that safety is just goal difference away as they have 27 points the same as West Ham.
The bad news is some of the games still left for them which includes playing both Manchester teams, Everton, Tottenham and Leicester, with teams going for European spots that looks like being a very tough run in.
Bournemouth total predicted points: 33
Maybe it’s because West Ham moved into their new stadium- the Olympic stadium, maybe it’s because they made the bizarre decision to reappoint David Moyes as manager. But anyhow many eyes are on the London club, who really should be in a better position than they are and fighting for mid table not relegation. But the club look badly run, and if they do go down it feels like quite a lot of football followers would find that hilarious.
The Hammers currently would be safe as they are in 17th place. The problem is that is only on goal difference. There is also only one club above them that they could catch as gaps are starting to appear. They have lost their first two games since the restart against Wolves and Tottenham.
The club do seem to have an easier run in than the other relegation threatened teams but will still have to face Chelsea and Manchester United who are competing for European places so those games won’t be easy.
West Ham total predicted points: 38
Watford are in 16th but are right there in the mix and perhaps the last of the teams who could be threatened with relegation. Since the restart they have played just one game which they drew against Leicester, that match ending 1-1.
Currently they have 28 points so could easily get sucked into a battle. They have some tough fixtures having to play Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City. Though a couple of those games are towards the end of the season where if matters have been settled those clubs may not play their strongest sides.
Watford total predicted points: 34
Let’s take a glance at the predicted final table at the bottom of the league based on our predictions above.
16th: West Ham 38
17th: Watford 34
18th: Bournemouth 33
19th: Aston Villa 31
20th: Norwich 26
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