Sports Writer
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The Premier League 2020/21 season has been an interesting one, to say the least. There’s now five games left (for the majority) – nothing in this game is guaranteed.
At the top end of the table, Manchester City have all but run away with the lead, and are set to win their fifth Premier League title. As well as a race for European football next season, there’s also a potential relegation battle on our hands.
Now, almost every Premier League team has five games remaining – who is set to be relegated to the Championship? Also, who’s joining next year’s Premier League from the Football League?
Sheffield United have already had the news broken to them – now 17 points off safety, they will be playing Championship football next season. It was a dismal start to the season, but they have managed to save themselves the embarrassment of beating Derby County’s record-low points.
Newly-promoted West Brom tried their hardest this season, but the lack of quality showed as the difference. With just five games left, they find themselves 11 points from safety, and it would take something extraordinary for them to stay in the Premier League. The sacking of Slaven Bilic halfway through the season didn’t help – even though he was fired just after drawing 1-1 away at Man City.
London side Fulham have the best chance of surviving, but even there’s a slim amount of hope. After a winless record in their last five, Fulham have allowed the likes of Brighton & Newcastle to pull away from the drop zone. Now, it’s likely their Premier League campaign will have started and ended this season.
Steve Bruce has pulled it out the bag for his Newcastle side, a draw away at Liverpool looks positive and almost secures their top flight spot next year. On top of that, Brighton will need to slip up heavily for Fulham to stand any chance of catching them, so Graham Potter and the Seagulls are likely to be in the Premier League next season.
With that said, nothing is guaranteed. Anything can happen – we’ve seen it done before. If Fulham do make a remarkable comeback at this late stage of the season, and one of these two drop their pace,
So, it looks like we know who will be dropping to the EFL Championship, but who’s going in the other direction? Well, after the weekend’s latest results, we now know two of the three – Norwich & Watford.
Relegated from the top division last season, both sides are bouncing back into the Prem. With automatic promotion secured, it has been a very brief appearance in the Championship for both teams. On top of that, Norwich need just two points to be crowned winners of the Championship, with Watford seven points behind.
With just two games left for most of the Championship teams, we already know who will be in the playoffs. Brentford, Bournemouth, Swansea & Barnsley are all currently in the playoff spots, and will battle it out for the final place for promotion to the top flight.
As it stands, Brentford are third, one point ahead of the other three – all level on 77 points with two games remaining. These final matches will definitely play a part in who will play who when it comes to the playoffs.
Bournemouth were the other club relegated from the top flight in 2019/20, so we could see all three return to the Premier League at the same time. Meanwhile, Swansea City were relegated to the Championship in 2018, and are looking to regain that Premier League status.
Brentford were within touching distance of playing Premier League football last season, but lost in extra time to Fulham in the playoff final. Both Brentford and Barnsley are yet to feature in the top flight, but this could change at the end of this season.
Who will win the playoffs & secure that final place in the Premier League? Will Bournemouth join their 2019/20 relegation clubs? Will Brentford or Barnsley make their first appearance in the top flight?
Think you want to put money on your predictions? Take a look at the best UK betting odds on offer with Tonybet! You’ll be able to find Championship playoff markets, as well as the remaining Premier League fixtures right here with us and the best bookmaker UK has to offer.
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