The Fight for Survival in the English Premier League

The Fight for Survival in the English Premier League

Jared Timms

The English Premier League is one of the world’s most popular sporting competitions and draws some of the best footballers from around the globe each season with lucrative contracts and the promise of truly

Unlike all the major sporting codes in Australia, the English football leagues are structured around a promotion and relegation system and the fight to survive is almost as exciting as the fight for the title.

Given that Manchester City has already sewn up their third Premier League title, all the focus has shifted to the clubs that are caught in the dogfight at the bottom of overall standings, with only a few games remaining in the season.

Brighton currently sit in fourteenth position on the EPL Ladder on 37 competition points. While they face a horror run home, they have probably done enough to earn another season in England’s top league. Below, we’ve had a look at the bottom six clubs in the English Premier League this season and summed up their chances in the fight for survival.

We’ve also dug deep to find a few highlights from each team’s potentially forgettable campaign.

15th – West Ham (35 points)

The Hammers have been pretty inconsistent all season and they find themselves in danger of demotion again. Somehow, they have managed to knock off some of the league’s best teams in 2017/18, but they have also been on the wrong end of some shocking score lines and that is telling in their current predicament. Their recent run of form in the league reads WDDLL and they really only need to secure one more win to survive, but their run home is difficult and they cannot afford to clock off. It’s tough imagining them in the Championships next season, though.

West Ham’s remaining matches

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wslsOY2UqXE&t=7s

16th – Huddersfield Town (35 points)

Aaron Mooy’s Huddersfield absolutely flew the gates at the beginning of their first season in England’s top league, but they have certainly been brought back down to earth and are in serious danger of demotion. They remain tied on points with West Ham, but they have been in terrible form recently and their run home couldn’t be more difficult as they are still to face Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal. Every Aussie is surely barracking for the fairy-tale of another season in the Premier League for arguably our best current player, but things look pretty dire for the Terriers and they’ll need to fluke a win. Their best chance is undoubtedly on the final day of the season as Arsenal’s away record is the worst of any team in England’s four league tiers in 2018.

Huddersfield’s remaining matches

17th – Swansea City (33 points)

Swansea were anchored to the bottom of the table for the first half of the season and at Christmas, looked like they would be the first team relegated. A shake up and a smart run of form, however saw them climb out of the drop zone and away from danger. That form has since escaped the Welsh club though, and they are another team who has fallen out of form at the absolute worst possible time. They are winless since Week 29 and realistically need to win twice to keep their Premier League status in their own hands.

Swansea’s remaining matches

18th – Southampton (32 points)

Southampton have typically been one of the league’s better ‘small’ clubs since they returned to the EPL in 2012, but that has gone completely amiss in 2017/18 and they face a fight to survive. They are a club that generally plays with plenty of backbone and they have certainly done their best to answer the call in recent weeks; drawing with the in-form Leicester and beating Bournemouth. They are caught in the bottom three and will have to draw on all of their ability to overcome a tough run home, which includes matches with Manchester City and Everton.

Southampton’s remaining matches

19th – Stoke City (30 points)

Stoke City boast an outstanding roster on paper, but they have been next to terrible all season and could pay the ultimate price for it. A team with players like Xherdan Shaqiri and Jese in tow should shape as a tough prospect for any club, but instead the Potters have lacked creativity and have been pretty one-dimensional in attack. They are winless for twelve weeks and while there has been plenty of draws mixed into that run of form, they only have two games remaining and need to win both to give themselves any chance of survival.

Stoke’s remaining matches

https://youtu.be/AqiTwd5wEOo?t=6m45s

20th – West Bromwich Albion (28 points)

West Brom have been truly awful all season and while their fate is probably sealed, they are incredibly still a mathematical chance of surviving the drop. The Baggies have been anchored to the bottom of the table all season and while it does all appear to be too little, too late, they are undefeated in their four most-recent league fixtures, which has included wins over Manchester United and Newcastle. They unfortunately only have two matches remaining and one of those is against Spurs, but stranger things have happened!

West Brom’s remaining matches

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_a-6SZad3s