Premier League Teams Running the Risk of Relegation
As we edge closer to the midway stage of the Premier League campaign, it’s looking increasingly likely that Liverpool will remain the team to beat. Having agonisingly missed out by just a single point last season, Jurgen Klopp’s men seem to have learned some valuable lessons and gained much more resolve this term.
While it’s fair to say that Pep Guardiola could still lead Manchester City to their third consecutive title, based on the start to the 2019-20 season and seemingly lost their invulnerable edge, they will need to improve in both form and consistency to close the gap on the Reds. They also suffered the setback of losing 3-1 at Anfield early in November.
Meanwhile, after becoming the surprise 2015-16 Premier League champions with Claudio Ranieri at the helm, Leicester City are proving they are once again a force to be reckoned with under the leadership of Brendan Rodgers. Remaining within the top four since the start of the current campaign, the Foxes are ready to pounce should Liverpool or Man City falter.
At the other end of the table, the jostle for positions is equally fierce. Given the riches received by clubs in the Premier League, survival amongst the English elite is absolutely vital for the teams involved in the basement battle. While there are several teams who could be scrapping for their lives in the final weeks of the season, let’s take a look at those most fancied for the drop.
The Battle for Premier League Survival
According to the latest Premier League outright odds, the three teams who are the clearest favourites for relegation are Norwich City, Watford and Southampton. Having occupied the most time within the bottom three so far, it’s hardly surprising that bookmakers believe they are destined to continue struggling. But can any of them turn their fortunes around?
Watford
Having reached the FA Cup final last season, not to mention achieving their highest top-flight finish since the Graham Taylor era in the early 1980’s, fans of Watford were quite rightly expecting another season of progress with Spanish coach Javi Gracia at the helm. However, just four games into the 2019-20 campaign, he was sacked after three defeats and a draw.
The Pozzo family turned to another Spaniard, appointing Quique Sanchez Flores for his second managerial spell at Vicarage road, starting his return to the club with a promising 2-2 draw against Arsenal to open his account. However, the following game Watford were demolished 8-0 at Man City, 5-0 down after just 18 minutes.
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The Hornets did manage to gain their first victory of the campaign away at Norwich City in November, although that remained the only Premier League win under Sanchez Flores. After further defeats against Burnley at home and Southampton away, he too was sacked by Watford, managing just 1 win, 4 draws and 5 defeats during his 10 games in charge. Hiring a third manager of the season doesn’t bode well for Watford.
Norwich City
Life in the Premier League is usually always difficult for the newly promoted teams, yet at the very start of the campaign, Norwich City seemed to demonstrate they might have enough about them to survive. Five games into the season, despite suffering 3 defeats, the Canaries had also claimed 2 victories and one of them was a magnificent 3-2 triumph against Manchester City.
While many expected that result to inspire further confidence, it actually proved to be the opposite. Norwich went on a run of 7 games without victory, losing 6 and gaining just 1 point from a 0-0 draw away at Bournemouth. Fortunately, the light at the end of the tunnel came at Goodison Park with a crucial 0-2 victory against Everton, who themselves are battling to stay clear of the relegation zone.
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To their credit, while other clubs have already pressed the eject button and fired their managers, Norwich have continued to keep faith in Daniel Farke. The German coach masterminded their promotion to the Premier League and as yet, the board at Carrow Road appear to be steadfast in their view that he can keep them there.
Southampton
After four consecutive seasons in the top half of the Premier League, including two brief Europa League campaigns and a run to the EFL Cup final, fans of Southampton had plenty of reasons to be positive about the future of their club. However, the last two campaigns have been fought at the other end of the table, finishing just outside the relegation zone on both occasions.
The 2019-20 season hasn’t been any improvement. Despite what looked a fairly positive start to the campaign, winning 2 and drawing 1 of their opening 5 games, Southampton slumped and after a disastrous run of 8 games without victory, gaining just 2 points from that run, they find themselves firmly entrenched in yet another relegation scrap.
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The lowest point came with a humiliating 0-9 home defeat against Leicester City, who set a new record for the biggest away win during the Premier League era. Beating basement side Watford ended a run of 8 games without victory, although if that result doesn’t spark a revival, the club could find themselves looking to replace Ralph Hasenhuttl as manager.
Conclusion
Based on what we’ve seen so far, Norwich, Southampton and Watford look unlikely to reverse their fortunes. That said, if any one of them is to climb out of the bottom three, Southampton would seem the most likely, providing they can strengthen in January. Norwich are unlikely to spend heavily to avoid relegation, while the chaos at Watford seems to indicate they already have one foot in the Championship.