Battle to beat the DROP

Nine Premier League teams are separated by just four points with all eyes on the...

ONE imagines that had Masterchef’s Gregg Wallace replaced Gary Lineker as Match of the Day host if the BBC row played out differently in this alternate reality, he’d know just how to introduce the key relegation battles: ‘Survival, Wrighty, does not get tighter than this.’

Four points separate the bottom nine Premier League clubs, from Crystal Palace in 12th to Southampton at the foot of the table. It’s never been this close. No one cut adrift, no one pulling away.

Six have changed manager along the way. Fans of Leicester City and West Ham wish theirs would. A single result causes chaos. Leeds beat Wolves and jumped from 19th to 14th. West Ham dropped into the bottom three.

Never has the phrase ‘six-pointer’ been less of a cliche and more a way of life for nearly half the Premier League. So much can change, so much will change, as we find ourselves lodged in the business end of the campaign.

Who will drop? Who will pull themselves away from the trap door as it swings open on May 28? There are some big clubs in the mire. Some may not make it.

Here we run the rule over the tightest relegation battle in Premier League history.