One third of the Premier League season is now completed and now is the good time to discuss the teams who currently are in relegation places and those teams who can get into the unwanted spots.
The league table is very tight right now with just five points separating 11th from 18th. Hull City, Swansea City and Sunderland currently occupy the bottom three spots. Let’s discuss them and few other contenders.
Sunderland
The Blackcats are currently bottom of the league table and I must admit after fighting relegation battle for many years this could be the year they finally go down. Nothing seems to be right about their squad and even their manager David Moyes.
Jermain Defoe is their only hope for survival but leaking goals in almost every game is not ideal. Fellow strugglers Leicester City and Swansea City are their next two opponents and it is very important for them to pick up maximum points in both these games.
Swansea City
I cannot say that I am surprised to see Swansea sit 19th on the table but I will definitely say that their fans and their past managers who have made them a stable Premier League club don’t deserve this.
A stable football club with good possession-based football style who used to dominate home games against even bigger opponents have all of a sudden become relegation favourites. A club that used to back their managers and keep calm have all of a sudden become a sacking club.
Swansea City FC is a great example of how a change of ownership can’t always be promising. Fans are unhappy with the appointment of American Bob Bradley and the results so far have also not been good.
Gylfi Sigurdsson is right now running the club on the pitch and Swans will want him to continue firing if they have to survive in the league.
Hull City
The Tigers started the season in turmoil and to be very honest it is a surprise they are not in bottom two.
Manager Steve Bruce left the club due to issues with the board and club only had 13 fit senior players at the start of season. But seven points in opening four games shocked the world. Hull then came back to Earth with just four points from their next nine games.
Middlesbrough and Crystal Palace are their next two opponents and they will have to start winning such games if they want to stay in the Premier League.
Crystal Palace
Steve Mandanda, Yohan Cabaye, Andros Townsend, Christian Benteke…no point of naming more players because when such regular international players are struggling then you know this is not your season.
Alan Pardew is having an awful season and there is nothing I can say about them which can bring some hope for them. Only thing we can enjoy watching their games is that entertainment is guaranteed.
Just this Saturday Palace threw away a two-goal lead to lose to strugglers Swansea 5-4. As a result, Crystal Palace are out of the relegation zone on just goal difference. Pressure is rising on Alan Pardew and I will be very surprised if he goes into the new year as the manager of Crystal Palace.
Southampton and Hull City are their next two opponents and Palace are in desperate need of points or at least a clean sheet.
West Ham
Another team who possess a good squad but not able to defend properly and hence find themselves in a difficult position in the league table. I will be a little sympathetic for Slaven Bilic as many key players got injured at the same time at the start of the season.
Dimitri Payet, Andre Ayew, Aaron Cresswell, Sofiane Feghouli, Andy Carroll to name a few got injured in August and the Hammers couldn’t cope with it.
They are one point away from relegation zone right now and their next two opponents are title contenders Liverpool and Arsenal. Still I will be surprised if West Ham don’t solve their issues and aren’t in a comfortable position come May 2017.
Middlesborough
Boro have given a few decent performances and have even been able to compete against the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City. Problem for Boro is they are unable to convert draws into wins. Just two wins out of 13, but they have six draws.
Positive for Aitor Karanka’s men is that they don’t concede sloppy goals and have a good defensive record which is very fital in fight for survival.
Hull City at home are their next opponents and Boro surely will be hoping to win this and get into a comfortable position for now at least.
Leicester City
Champions – yes Champions Leicester City – are in relegation fight right now. Claudio Ranieri’s men have just won three of their opening 13 games and sit two points above relegation zone.
Champions League football has turned their heads a bit and they have been mighty impressive in that competition, winning four out of their five games so far.
With qualification into the next round assured, we expect Leicester to switch attention back to the Premier League and start collecting a few wins. Basement dwellers Sunderland are their next opponents.
Burnley
It was pretty obvious that Burnley will find it tough in their latest Premier League season.
They are regulars in getting promotion to the Premier League and then getting relegated.
Currently they sit three points above relegation zone and are very impressive at home Turf Moor. All four wins have come at home. Defensive stability may keep them in the Premier League this season but it will be difficult if better squads like Leicester, Palace, West Ham get into form and move above them.
Stoke City and Bournemouth who sit 11th and 12th in the league table respectively can also get into trouble if they don’t pick up regular wins which they are doing right now. So far so good for them.
With two-thirds of the season still to come, many ups and downs of each and every team will be on show. However, three of the seven clubs discussed in detail will most probably find themselves in the second tier next year.
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