English Premier League Relegation Review: Week 31
Week 31 has been interrupted by FA Cup rescheduling so there were only four games this week.
Interestingly enough though, all four games had an impact on the relegation battle.
As always, if you're interested in the methodology I used for this prediction you can find it on my original post.
Onto the week's events...
Bournemouth have more or less confirmed the fate of West Brom, I’m calling it. It’s well and truly over now for West Brom. They’re currently ten points from safety with only seven games left and my predictive model has them falling 13 points short of safety. Sunderland finished with a miserable total of 24 points last season and West Brom should be aiming to at least reach that tally.
It’s a wonder how Alan Pardew still has a job! I read a few interesting stats this week; almost every club outside of the top eight has changed manager this season. Pardew is the only one that came in and did not improve the points-per-game average over his predecessor for the season.
In addition, it’s no coincidence that the three clubs he’s managed are all currently in the bottom eight. How was anyone linking this guy with the England Job?
Crystal Palace had a huge win for their survival chances, especially after beating another relegation candidate in Huddersfield. They more or less looked doomed last week but they’ve given themselves a lifeline. They now have every chance of survival. Huddersfield still have some breathing room but their next game is against Newcastle, a match in which a loss could send them slipping into dangerous territory.
Everton just had their second away win of the season, just about ruling out any chance of slipping down into the danger zone. However, Stoke haven't done themselves any favours with yet another home loss and it is getting difficult to see them finding a way to survive.
Watford aren’t in any real danger of going down. Their form for 2018, bar a couple of good performances, has been miserable. Letting in five would be disappointing, regardless of how good Liverpool is.
So as I mentioned earlier – I’m calling West Brom and I’m not going to bother making a point of this anymore unless they start to somehow show signs of life. But I really can’t see that happening.
Crystal Palace’s win really pulled a couple of teams into the danger zone. I almost had them pegged for the No. 2 spot and they’re looking like they might even survive now. It's interesting how much one result can change relegation prospects when competition is this tight.
Southampton, Stoke and West Ham are the remaining teams that are in the most danger. Huddersfield might beat them if they lose their next game.
Next week's six pointers:
West Ham vs Southampton
Newcastle vs Huddersfield
Watford vs Bournemouth
Cover photo credits: By Brian Minkoff- London Pixels (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Author: @farq
Editor: @liberty-minded
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