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With over a quarter of the Premier League season already having elapsed, the table is now beginning to take shape. But while the biggest teams have demonstrated surprising inconsistency so far, the bottom of the league appears to be slightly easier to predict.
At this stage in the season, it now looks as though the relegation spots will likely be occupied by three of these four teams – barring an unexpected collapse from one of the better performing sides, of course. But which of Sheffield Utd, Burnley, West Bromwich Albion and Fulham will still be playing Premiership football next season?
Sheffield Utd
After a stellar campaign last time around in which Chris Wilder’s men played some attractive football and finished in a very respectable 9th position, the wheels appear to have come off so far this season. The team have gained just one point from their opening 10 matches and manager Wilder has become embroiled in an undignified war of words with Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp, further distracting from the job at hand.
But aside from squabbles off the pitch, it’s on it where Sheffield’s problems really lie – and especially up front. Over the last two seasons, Wilder has spent over £50 million on the attacking trio of Oli McBurnie, Lys Moussett and Rhian Brewster. While the latter hasn’t really had a fair crack of the whip yet, it’s safe to say that defences don’t fear Sheffield’s attacking prowess – and teams who don’t score goals go down.
Burnley
Burnley are in a somewhat similar position to Sheffield. Having enjoyed a decent campaign in 19/20 and a solid 10th place finish, Sean Dyche’s men find themselves at the wrong end of the table once again. They’re also the only side to have scored as few goals as Sheffield (just four), while their normally stingy defence has let in an unimpressive 17 goals at the other end.
Unlike Sheffield, however, Burnley have been here before. Dyche regularly battles with relegation and somehow seems to keep coming out on top. In addition to their hard-working strikers Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes, they also have the livewire Jay Rodriguez and the highly promising youngster Dwight McNeil in attack. Tactical nous and good, old-fashioned work ethic should see Burnley safe – but nothing is certain in the Premier League.
West Bromwich Albion
Newly promoted teams often find it difficult to make the step up from the Championship to the Premier League – and that’s certainly been the case for WBA. Manager Slaven Bilić does have experience of coaching in the top flight, although his two-year stint at West Ham was underwhelming and he was fired after a string of poor results left the Hammers in danger of the drop themselves in 2017.
Could history repeat itself with another “West” team this time around? Given the unconvincing nature of West Brom’s performances so far, that’s certainly a possibility. Bilić will need star signing Karlan Grant to find his shooting boots soon, while stand-out performer last term Matheus Pereira has yet to find his feet in the Premiership. If he doesn’t soon, WBA could well be going down.
Fulham
Alongside West Brom, Fulham were hotly tipped by many people to return straight from whence they came by being relegated at the first time of asking. So far this season, they’ve done little to allay those fears – barring a shock 2-1 away win against Leicester on the last day in November.
That performance will certainly have given manager Scott Parker much cause for optimism, especially since Leicester are expected to be challenging for Champions League places this year. However, there are obvious reasons why Fulham remain one of the favourites for relegation on sites like stsbet this season. Parker’s team will need to ensure they produce that kind of steely determination and clinical finishing on a consistent basis if they are to ward off a trapdoor that looks to have their name etched on it.
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