At time of writing we have 4 teams in my opinion that could go down, along with Southampton who are definitely gone. Which is a shame as I quite like Ruben Selles and his approach to football, and they have a lot of vibrant, talented young players. This relegation fight is the best i remember and the tightest at the bottom of the table with lots of teams still involved.
Those teams are Leicester City 30pts, Leeds United 30pts, Nottingham Forest 30pts and Everton 29pts. These are some of the biggest and most historic teams in England. Everton haven’t been releagted for 72 years, Nottingham Forest have won the Europen cup (now Champions League), Leicester City won the league less than 7 years ago and Leeds United are massive in both history and support.
It would then, be sad to see any of them go, the Championship is a brutal league and there is no guarantee they will bounce straight back, even with parachute payments. But which of the 4 will go, lets find out!
Leicester City – Best Goal difference of the 3 stuck on 30 points, tough fixtures to come but the key game is the next one for them, Fulham Away. I think Fulham are on the beach and with no Pereira and Mitrovic, their 2 most talented players, Leicester will win this one and i think that could be enough. It will go to the last day no matter what and if thats the case i think West Ham at home will be at least a point. West Ham will rest players to get ready for a UEFA Conference League final and they will secure their safety then. Players like James Maddison, Youri Tielemans, Harvey Barnes will give them enough going forward and they will be safe.
Leeds United – 17th on Goal difference right now and the same as Leicester have 2 games where they can get points. They will get no change out of Newcastle or Manchester City but with Sam Allardyce, just appointed to take over from Javi Gracia, they have someone with experience in releagtion scraps. He got my own team Sunderland out before as well as Palace and Everton, who ironically could do with his services right now too! I just can’t see how they can get a point in the next 2 games, but i think they will beat West Ham with everything on the line for them and Elland Road will be a factor if it is required last day of the season. 3 or 4 points for me. What they do have in their favour is a squad of hard workers, a side effect from the Bielsa and Jesse Marsch era who thrived on the pressing game with physicality across the picth. Allardyce will focus their minds, simplify the play to be more effective, and keep the goals conceded to a minimum and with goal difference in play that could be worth an extra point.
Nottingham Forest – In the drop zone on goal difference currently and Steve Coopers side have it all to do. It always looked a tough season with such a crazy influx of players in this season. Around 25 players have come in, which is baffling, you can only have 11 and 9 subs and most squads are 25 all in. Signings take time to gel and Forests home form as given them a chance and they have Southampton next at the City Gorundm which is must win. In my opinion if they don’t win that game they are going down. If they win they will have momentum and i could see them beating Chelsea who have been atrocious or get something from Palace last day of the season. They do have a passionate, albeit crazy owner in Marinakis who clearly loves the club and wants the best for it but he should leave Steve Cooper to it. Key player will be top scorer Brennan Johnson who i can see being poached by a top 6 club if they go through the trap door in 4 games time. He is pacy, works extremely hard pressing from the front and has an eye for goal.
Everton – 29pts and the early Sean Dyche bounce seems to have worn off. Only Chelsea are a more chaotic club right now. Their off field troubles are well documented with Farhat Moshiri ploughing over £500m in transfers over the last 6-7 years with nothing to show for it. They are still building a stadium, which is not fully funded, they have lost over £300m in the last 3 years and are facing strict FFP penalties. If they were to go down, I don’t think I am being too apocalyptic here, but if they go down this could be disastrous for the club, it could be the beginning of a downward spiral towards extinction