The Relegation Battle 2018/19

[RossFC]

All the top 6 have hit 40 points and we have 13-14 games left in the season. When Palace beat Fulham and Burnley got a late draw against Soton it made the gap between 17th and 18th 5 points. Cardiff managed an upset win over Bournemouth to close the gap to 2 points and -4 GD.

Here are the sides that are yet to hit 40 points.


Huddersfield are as good as gone. Awful side that not even Fat Sam could help.
Fulhams defence have absolutely killed them, They have a good enough midfield and attack.
Cardiff I feel don't have a squad that long term can stay in the prem for long.
After Burnleys 7th place finish last season it's all gone wrong for them and they are in a bit of trouble too.
Soton I think should survive, Newcastle have a bad squad but Rafa will save them, Palace and Brighton are not completely out of it.
Everyone from Wolves (7th) to West Ham (12th) would feel pretty safe but still need 2-9 points to get to the 40 mark. It should be a formality for them.

 

[RossFC]

Up next we still have a couple matchday 25 games Leicester vs Man United, & West Ham vs Liverpool.

I think for Leicester & West Ham it will be tough for them to gain some points and may even take a tiny hit on their GDs.

But as I said both are good enough sides to grab enough points over the rest of the journey. Especially Leicester who while they don't play a brand of football the fans love, are still getting results.

 

[Jatz]

Suspect we’ll finish around the 45 points range. Once we’re close to safe, I daresay we’ll switch off.

 

[DaveyBoy123]

Soton I think should survive,

If Ings' injury is bad, I'm genuinely worried about our goal-scoring options moving forward. Teams will soon clamp down on Redmond & JWP.

The new manager was outspoken in wanting a smaller squad than he inherited. Most of the current players we have out on loan are strikers/goal-scorers (Gabbi, Carillo, Boufal & 1 or 2 youngsters). Thank goodness a better offer didn't come in for Austin.

Either way, we'll know more after the next game at home to Cardiff. Anything less than 3 points and I reckon the mighty Saints are in serious trouble.

 

[RossFC]

If Ings' injury is bad, I'm genuinely worried about our goal-scoring options moving forward. Teams will soon clamp down on Redmond & JWP.

The new manager was outspoken in wanting a smaller squad than he inherited. Most of the current players we have out on loan are strikers/goal-scorers (Gabbi, Carillo, Boufal & 1 or 2 youngsters). Thank goodness a better offer didn't come in for Austin.

Either way, we'll know more after the next game at home to Cardiff. Anything less than 3 points and I reckon the mighty Saints are in serious trouble.

Wait, Ings is injured? what happened? Also Austin is a quality player when on fire he should have it in him to carry the load for a bit.

 

[DaveyBoy123]

Wait, Ings is injured? what happened? Also Austin is a quality player when on fire he should have it in him to carry the load for a bit.

It was rather strange last night... There was a goal-kick and all of a sudden Ings just limped off. It happened out of nowhere in the 27th minute and not much follow-up really occurred. As the EPL writers like to do, it was classified as a "knock".

Austin is indeed good in bursts and will hopefully realise he's playing for his future, but between being injury prone & ummm stupid, he's only good in bursts of up to 5 games.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Not sure you’ll need 40 to be safe. Maybe 36-38 will be enough this season

 

[Zidane98]

33-35 will probably do it this season. Huddersfield are gone. Don't see 18th/19th racking up 38-40 points, they are just not picking up points against better teams at all.

 

[TubbsFarquhar]

Markovic is such a bizarre signing for Fulham. He's surplus to their needs when their defence is what's going to relegate them yet that wasn't fixed in January at all.

 

[WealstoneRaider]

Fulham are gawn. Their next seven:

Man Utd H
West Ham A
Southampton A
Chelsea H
Leicester A
Liverpool H
Man City H

They are 7 pts from safety now and will be too adrift after that run even though their final six games are decent.

With Huddersfield basically also gone it’s one from Cardiff, Burnley, Southampton, Newcastle, Palace and Brighton. I’d rule out Palace as they definitely have good enough players. Think Newcastle will also be alright as Rafa is a top class manager and sets them up well. Still looks like being Cardiff for me but they’ve given themselves a chance

 

[moomba]

I could see the bottom three now being the bottom three in May.

 

[Jatz]

I really want Fulham to stay up. Don’t see it happening though.

 

[Thistle]

Huddersfield have been terrible. 13 goals in 25 games just isn't going to cut in this league.

Likewise Fulham can't be conceding over 2 goals per game and expect to stay up.

 

[Zidane98]

Fulham have been a huge disappointment considering how much they've spent.

 

[Cruyff14]

Fulham have been a huge disappointment considering how much they've spent.

Yeah I wonder how many leave?

Surely Seri, Sessengnon, Schurrle, Mitrovic, Chambers (loan) to say the least.

 

[WealstoneRaider]

They’re farked if they go down - which they will. FFP is gonna kill them like it nearly did with Villa. I think they get one chance to bounce straight back up though before that kicks in

 

[Zoom]

Hopefully Cardiff, Huddersfield and Brighton go down.

 

[RossFC]

Expecting Wolves to get to 40 points this week.
Fulham have Man United which will be tough.
Soton vs Cardiff is this weeks most important "6 pointer", with Burnley vs Brighton close behind.

 

[kreglze]

Huddersfield and Fulham are going down.

3rd spot is a toss up athe moment but I think Cardiff will be the team to go down.

 

[charcoalchicken]

Huddersfield already gone
Fulham look pretty certain to go
I'm tipping cardiff to turn it around and maybe burnley/southampton to go down

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

Huddersfield already gone
Fulham look pretty certain to go
I'm tipping cardiff to turn it around and maybe burnley/southampton to go down

Southampton have looked much better under their new manager.

So have Burnley since they made the change in goal. If Joe Hart was still their no. 1 keeper, they would of been relegated for sure.

I think Cardiff will go down. They cant score goals and while they tried to address the issue by buying Sala, the unfortunate accident means they are back to square one again.

 

[charcoalchicken]

Southampton have looked much better under their new manager.

So have Burnley since they made the change in goal. If Joe Hart was still their no. 1 keeper, they would of been relegated for sure.

I think Cardiff will go down. They cant score goals and while they tried to address the issue by buying Sala, the unfortunate accident means they are back to square one again.

I'm just thinking cardiff might turn it around for that reason alone, spurned on by the unfortunate sala disaster, just think it might give them a boost to get through and survive just for him in a way.

 

[Scotland]

Huddersfield are cooked, not good for Aaron Mooy.

 

[TubbsFarquhar]

Huddersfield are cooked, not good for Aaron Mooy.

Surely another PL club signs him. He's too good for the Championship.

 

[Sozabarus]

I still think Fulham are a chance to stay up but they need to kick on soon obviously. There always seems to be one side that either pulls off a great escape or at least comes close.