5 Premier League teams who are involved in a battle for relegation
With just nine games to go in the current Premier League season, it looks like Manchester City have all but wrapped up their first title victory since 2013/14. While the additional Champions League places are still up for grabs, perhaps more intriguing is the battle at the bottom of the table to stay in the Premier League.
Just ten points separate 13th placed Swansea City from bottom-placed West Bromwich Albion, meaning that each and every club in between is still in deep trouble of going down into the Championship – a notoriously difficult league to escape.
With eight sides involved, here are five teams who will almost certainly be in a relegation scrap until the end of the season.
#1 West Bromwich Albion
It almost seems unfair to claim that West Brom is in a relegation fight, as they’re glued to the foot of the table on 20 points and plenty of observers would probably claim they’re already doomed. With nine games to go, however, they could still reach a maximum of 47 points, which would probably keep them safe. If we’re frank though, it isn’t likely at all.
The Baggies simply aren’t doing anything right at the minute. After firing Tony Pulis in November noted ‘firefighter’ Alan Pardew hasn’t been able to stop the bleeding – they’ve now lost their last five outings and have only won once under Pardew, back in mid-January.
Historically Pardew has been a manager who takes a team on strong runs and then dips off, but for the Baggies, that strong run hasn’t happened.
The majority of their problems seem to be in front of goal, where they’re simply not scoring enough – 22 in the league all season, the lowest total of any club.
Forwards Jay Rodriguez, Hal Robson-Kanu, and Salomon Rondon have only scored 10 league goals between them, and while Daniel Sturridge was brought in from Liverpool in January in an attempt to solve this problem, he injured his hamstring in just his third appearance for the club and hasn’t been back since.
They also have a relatively tough run-in – not only do they face off with Champions League contenders Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool, but they also face fellow strugglers Crystal Palace, Swansea, and Newcastle – all of whom are in a better form than the Baggies.