Three up, three down?
RIGHT, then. There’s one game of the season left and Luton need a miracle to avoid joining Burnley and Sheffield United. To stay up, they need to beat Fulham on the final day, hope Forest lose to Burnley and overturn a 12-goal swing in goal difference. If, as expected, they join Burnley and the Blades, it will be the first time since 1997-98 that all three promoted clubs go straight back down. Back then, Crystal Palace finished bottom and were joined by Barnsley and Bolton, who were relegated on goal difference, much to Everton’s relief. It was harsh on Bolton, who reached that mystical target of 40 points that is meant to guarantee survival.
IF last season’s promoted trio do, as expected, fall, the only surprise will be it has taken so long for it to happen again. The struggles of each club coming up into the top flight and trying to stay there are varied, but what’s clear is the average points for promoted clubs is falling.
LAST season, however, none of the promoted clubs — Fulham, Bournemouth or Forest — went down. It was the same in 2017-18, when Newcastle, Brighton and Huddersfield stayed up after going up. In the history of the 20-team Premier League, it had only happened twice in the 22 seasons before that. This season, too, marks the sixth in the last 10 campaigns when at least two of the newly-promoted teams have gone down, the same as in the previous 19.
LEICESTER and Ipswich are back in the promised land. Norwich, Leeds, West Brom and Southampton will battle it out for the final place.
If you’re not one of the big boys, though, the Premier League is a tough place to be. And, as this season has showed, it’s only getting tougher.