Premier League relegation battle - Club by club analysis

The Premier League relegation zone is currently too tight to call, but I will make an attempt at deciphering it. With just nine points separating 10th from bottom, it is set to be the closest relegation battle in Premier League history. Here’s a run down of the teams struggling near the bottom.

Can Sunderland manager Gus Poyet keep the club afloat in the Premier League?

Sunderland

Despite the fact they play nice football under Gus Poyet. Sunderland are littered with too many mistakes to stay in the Premier League. Lee Cattermole’s sloppy back-pass to Gabriel Agbonlahor for the only goal in the defeat to Aston Villa on New Years Day showed that well.

Furthermore, their form against teams at the bottom has been pretty poor. They haven’t beaten any of the other four sides currently occupying the bottom half of the league. If they are to stay up, this month will be critical. They have some winnable games against Fulham, Southampton and Stoke City. If they fail to win the maximum points from the month. It is difficult to see them staying in the Premier League.

The League Cup could also pose to be a hindrance. Now that they are in Semi-Finals, Poyet may gamble like Alex McLeish at Birmingham City a few years and go all out for a chance at silverware.

West Ham

Injuries are ultimately costing West Ham currently, on New Years Day they were forced to play with four full-backs in defence. Also, they only have two fit strikers in Carlton Cole and Madibo Maiga, both of which are far from the quality needed to score them goals to keep them in the Premier League.

Johnny Hetinga’s recent rejection of the club may be points to a lack of appeal in the club. Which could be problematic when looking for players to fill the void in the January transfer market. With one player already rejecting them outright, Allardyce may panic buy in the market.

Like Sunderland, the League Cup could take it out of them. Without a trophy since 1980 and Sam Allardyce without a major honor in his managerial career. A League Cup win could prove too tantilising for West Ham.

Crystal Palace

Before the start of the season, everybody had written Crystal Palace off. So to be talking about them staying up is credit to Tony Pulis for the job he has done so far at Selhurst Park.

Crystal Palace do have the pull of London in the transfer market as Tony Pulis has pointed out, “It is one of the great cities, if not the greatest city in the world. It is nice to come here and work. London, hopefully, is attractive,”

Palace have become more gritty under Pulis, since the start of December they have only conceded seven goals. However, they also have only scored seven goals.

What has been said about Palace is that they may get away with winning against the teams around them. They have only lost to one of the other bottom four sides as they went down 4-1 to Fulham at home.

The end of this month could be crucial for Palace. Stoke and Hull both visit Selhurst Park in a set of games that Crystal Palace would expect to take some points. If they manage to go a run, anything is possible for the Eagles.