Week of reckoning for Premier League strugglers

At the different ends of the Premier League standings, teams are fighting different battles. At the top, there’s the fight for the title, the chase for top four places, and the chase for places in the Europa League. 

There’s also a fight to finish mid-table, and with the title race all but confirmed to be going one way, the most enthralling fight will be at the low reaches of the league standings. As things stand, any side in the bottom half of the league table can get relegated. However, it looks quite likely that the battle for survival will suck in the bottom seven sides.

Based on recent performances and the results on the table, any teams from 14th placed Southampton, down to bottom-placed Sheffield United can be relegated. Mathematically that’s a possibility. 

Among the teams currently in the relegation region, Fulham has the best chance to escape. They have played one match more than Newcastle United and if they win their Friday game against Leeds United, they’ll top Newcastle by one point. 

This match is backed to produce few goals, under 2.5 goals to be precise and that has to do with the teams’ scoring trends, with both struggling to score more than a goal in their recent matches. 

Leeds United have been poor away from home lately and inconsistent in attack, and Bet365 has 1.80 as the top odds for under 2.5 goals. These two are just some of the top betting sites with Premier League matches; Wincomparator rates the best bookmakers in the market, with Bet365, 1xBet, Marathon Bet and 888Sport all on five-star classification. Bwin and William Hill are on 4.5 star rating while Bet-at-Home, 22Bet, Unibet, Betsson and Betfred are rated at four–star. 

Another key game that will determine the face of the relegation battle will be Brighton versus Newcastle United. These two face off on Saturday and by this time they’ll be aware of the outcome in the Fulham versus Leeds United clash. Brighton are three points above the red zone, and a point ahead of Newcastle United, which paints the picture as to why this will be a very interesting encounter to follow.

A loss for either side will not immediately spell doom, but will come to be very crucial in the face of the final standings. Newcastle United are billed the underdogs going to this game but anything can happen with these games.

Another team in the drop zone that has an uphill task is West Bromwich Albion, who could sink further in the relegation fight as they are lined up to face Chelsea in their next game, which happens to be on 3rd April. West Brom have failed to score in their last three matches, and have just one goal in the last five. Taking on this in-form Chelsea side with that kind of run is very dangerous.

As for Sheffield United, the side that has been bottom for a majority of the season, nothing seems to be working and a future in the Championship seems very likely. They have a welcome distraction as they face Chelsea in the FA Cup this weekend before resuming at the start of April with a game against Leeds United.

Even with their season already seemingly done, Sheffield United made a needless managerial change, replacing the crowd favorite Chris Wilder with Paul Heckingbottom and the new man’s welcome was a 5-0 thrashing by Leicester City. The Blades do not have a friendly fixture schedule and for them, sadly, this is one way – to the Championship.