The final bend of the 2022/23 season is upon us and whichever part of the Premier League table you’re looking at, at the moment, nothing looks very certain for any of the 20 teams competing in the league.
Arsenal are trying to win the league for first time since the invincible season of 2003/04, and they are deservedly leading the table with 69 points, but they have a certain Manchester City- the defending champions of this league breathing down their neck, with just eight points separating the two, and with, City boasting a game in hand.
The battle to secure next season’s Champions League spots is still brewing as well so is the one to snatch a Europa League spot. Manchester United, Tottenham, Newcastle, Liverpool, Brighton and Brentford are embroiled in this one (UCL) while Fulham, Chelsea and Aston Villa are each eyeing the latter.
Only eight points separate Brentford placed eighth in the league and Man United sitting third, and between Aston Villa (11th) and Fulham (8th), the gap is just a point.
Drama awaits at the butt end of the season, but it is at the bottom side of the table that absolute drama will be witnessed.
Nine teams including 2015/16 Premier League winners Leicester are entangled in this relegation drama. There’s just a difference of four points between Crystal Palace seated 12th and Southampton placed 20th.
With 10 games left of play, who will beat the drop ? We take a look.
Crystal Palace 12th , 27 Points
Crystal Palace are in this position owing to the fact that they have failed to win a single game in 2023.
The Eagles begun the campaign on a somewhat decent manner winning five games in 2022, but since the turn of the year, they have not sniffed a scent of victory. Seven defeats have been suffered in that period, and that poor form ultimately led to the sacking of Patrick Viera.
Palace’s undoing has majorly been due to the impotence of their attack which has scored only five goals in their last 12 league games. How Roy Hodgson, a man who had retired from football, and reappointed as Palace manager to replace the Frenchman manages to motivate a Palace attack comprising of Wilfred Zaha, Jordan Ayew, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Odsonne Edouard remains to be seen.
But this Palace side should be able to shake off whatever it is that’s going on at Selhurst Park to beat the drop. In the run in, they have, on paper beatable teams as opponents in their remaining games. Of their nine games left, only Tottenham and Fulham are not fighting relegation.
Wolves 13th, 27 points
Unlike Palace, Wolves can actually win games, well at least this year! They have won four of their twelve Premier League games played in 2023, but while they can sketch wins, their back end needs urgent attention. Wolves- a once respected defensive unit have this year kept only three clean sheets, and when losing, they do it by at least a 2 goal difference.
Their attack can not also come out for praise because them alongside Everton, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest are the least scoring teams in the league each with a paltry 22 goals.
Julen Lopetegui, Wolves current coach has managed top teams like Real Madrid and Sevilla, winning the Europa League with the latter. He should be able to rally his troops especially his senior players consistent of Joao Moutinho, Ruben Neves, Pedro Neto and Craig Dawson to put up a fight, and on a consistent basis if they’re to beat the drop.
Leeds United 14th, 26 points
Leeds definitely got it right when they sacked Jesse Marsch and replacing him with Javi Garcia because now they can win games. The Whites had not won a game in 2023, but right after appointing the former Watford manager, Leeds got their first win on February 25. Another one arrived just before the international break.
They seem to have step up a gear at the right time, but the problem is they face five of the top seven teams in the league in the run in. After facing Arsenal on April 1, they have Liverpool to contend with 16 days later, then Man City at the start of May, Newcastle follows right after that and Tottenham on the last day. Not the kind of opponents one would want to battle when trying to avoid the drop, and to make it more scary, Arsenal and City are hosting their respective fixtures.
But if they can deal with Forest, Palace, Leicester, Bournemouth and West Ham- their fellow relegation candidates, they could well survive the knife.
Everton 15th, 26 points
Since the arrival of Sean Dyche, Everton have been on an enviable rise. They have won three games since the former Burnley manager’s appointment on January 30. Before the alternations in the dugout, the Toffees had last won a match in October, and in that period, lost six out of the eight league games they played.
Everton have difficulties finding the goals, but with Dominic Calvert-Lewin nearing his return from an hamstring injury he suffered against Arsenal, they should be able to address that department .
Dyche has also instilled a never-say-die attitude to these Everton players which will go a long way in helping them survive the axe. This was evident in the game against Chelsea right before the international break when they scored through Ellis Simms in the 89th minute.
Nottingham Forest 16th, 26 points
Forest are a team with extremes! While they boast an impressive home run of not losing at the City Grounds since their 3-2 defeat to Fulham in September, they are terrible travellers!
Steven Coopers’ side is a lot awful on the road. All their heavy defeats in the league have come away from home, and one of their remaining away fixtures include Liverpool who put seven unanswered goals past Man United. It could get messier for a Forest team that has conceded the second most goals (49) in the league.
But they can take advantage of their home form to earn safety. Relegation rivals Southampton and Crystal Palace are some of the team’s they will welcome at the City Grounds.
Leicester City 17th, 25 points
It is hard to believe that Leicester with all the quality players at their disposal are fighting for survival. But well, that is what happens when a team has a loose defence.
Brendan Rodgers has a rich attack in Jamie Vardy, Kelechi Iheanacho, James Madison, Harvey Barnes, Patson Daka, Youri Tielemans, but the team’s defending has been somewhat laughable at times. A total of 47 goals have been conceded which is just seven fewer than the worst defence in the league.
If Leicester have to beat the drop, they have to tighten their back. They had lost four games on a bounce before drawing 1-1 against Brentford- their very last game. If their players return from the international break fully fit, they should be able to use that draw as a resurgence point.
West Ham 18th, 24 points
Of the teams battling relegation, David Moyes’ team has let in the least goals (34). West Ham have actually conceded fewer goals than both Manchester United (35) and Tottenham (40), but it is their attack that Moyes needs to get fired up.
Defence prevent defeats, but goals win you games. It is that simple. Get the goals and survive the drop.
West Ham’s other obstacle is the Europa Conference League! I’m not sure how much the club wants this competition, but I’m sure they certainly want to stay in the Premier League.
The Hammers are in the quarterfinals of the Conference League and this could act as a distraction towards their survival fight.
Bournemouth 19th, 24 points
Bournemouth showed the world that they can actually beat anyone when they stunned a buzzing Liverpool who had the previous weekend humiliated their arch-rivals Man United. This should serve as a warning to their fellow relegation threatened teams, but in the same breathe, Bournemouth can’t seem to avoid defeats. Prior to that victory, they had won just once in nine games, and their last game before the international break also ended in a loss.
Bournemouth are also the worst defending team in the league as they have swallowed 54 goals in 27 games. That’s definitely a relegation kind of a team.
Southampton 20th, 23 points
Say hello to statistically the worst team in the Premier League. Southampton have lost the most games (17), and have been bottom of the table for 11 of the past 12 weeks, and of course they have the least number of points.
But in their fight for survival, they have collected 10 points of the available 18 in their last 6 games. Wins against Chelsea and Leicester and draws against Man United and Tottenham are reason for that.
Southampton showed resilience and character in their game against Spurs, thrice coming from behind to draw 3-3, a game that sent the then Tottenham boss Antonio Conte into ranting about the selfishness of his players.
That resilience is what the Saints will need in this fight. They should draw motivation from the fact that in their remaining ten games, half of the opponents are among the bottom nine.
This will go down as the tightest relegation battle in Premier League history, so who do we think will go down?
We think Nottingham Forest, Southampton and Bournemouth will be relegated. Nottingham’s away form is ultimately going to cost them while Bournemouth seem not to have solutions to avoiding defeats. For Southampton, their recent surge might just be a superficial effort.
