The likes of Crystal Palace, Swansea and Leicester all pulled away from the Premier League’s bottom three of Middlesbrough, Hull City and Sunderland at the weekend.
Struggling Sunderland and Middlesbrough managers David Moyes and Aitor Karanka
It has been extremely congested at the bottom of the Premier League this season, that was until the close of play at the weekend. Defeats for the bottom three and victories for all of the three teams directly above them has seen a gap open up for the first time this season. What’s more, those three teams seem to have a little bit more about them, and the consensus may now be that the current bottom three are somewhat doomed.
The gap, as alluded to there, between 17th placed Crystal Palace and 18th placed Middlesbrough is only actually three points. Hardly mammoth, but Middlesbrough are without a win in their last 10, whilst Sunderland have won just once, compared to Swansea City who have won 5 of their last 10 and Crystal Palace and Leicester City who have just put together back-to-back wins.
Hull City have won two of their last 10, but following impressive displays against the Premier League’s top six, they have fallen short in the all-important games at home to Burnley and away to Leicester in their last two outings. Bournemouth meanwhile are in dreadful form, but their 5 point buffer on the bottom three gives them some degree of insurance.
The honeymoon period may be over for Marco Silva at Hull City
If we start with Middlesbrough, the 18th placed side, their plight – rather like all of the bottom trio – should come as no surprise. A few weeks ago, we suggested Boro were sleep-walking their way towards relegation, and now for the first time, Aitor Karanka’s men find themselves in the relegation zone.
Middlesbrough have lost the fewest games of any team in the bottom seven and conceded the fewest goals of any team outside the top seven. In fact, both Arsenal and Liverpool have conceded more goals than Aitor Karanka’s side, and Manchester City only one fewer.
Read: How Middlesbrough are sleep-walking their way towards relegation
Whilst undoubtedly impressive, the fact Boro are still in such dire straights despite having that platform highlights the extent of their problems elsewhere. Middlesbrough have the fewest wins, fewest goals and fewest shots on target of any team down there by some distance. Scoring goals has been the problem all season, yet Karanka has seemingly done little to rectify it.
Then there is the club’s current form. Boro are winless in their last 10, meaning you have to go back to mid-December for their last win. They haven’t scored a Premier League goal since January and seem to be really low on confidence. If they could somehow start scoring goals, Boro’s defence would give them a chance, but right now they seem to be in the greatest rut of any team in the league.
Both Middlesbrough and Hull City have it all to do
Moving on to Hull City, the Tigers honeymoon period under Marco Silva is very much over. Having taken over what seemed like an impossible job, Silva guided the club to some impressive results against the Premier League’s top teams, despite losing two of his most prized assets in Robert Snodgrass and Jake Livermore.
It was vital that the team followed that up with performances against Burnley and Leicester City though, and that is something they failed to do. One point from those two matches has left Marco Silva back where he started, a man in charge of a team which looks to be heading in only one direction.
Read: An ode to Hull City legend Stuart Elliott
The only saving grace for Hull City is that they still have so many of the teams around them to play, and mostly at home, where their form is far superior to on their travels. But to have any chance they have to start scoring goals. The departure of Snodgrass leaves them hurting in this department, with Michael Dawson and Abel Hernandez (3 each) the club’s current top scorers.
The simple fact may be that Hull City are not good enough. No team in the Premier League has such a dearth of quality in attack, and they are heavily reliant on a string of January signings who are largely at the KCOM Stadium due to a failure to impress elsewhere. They face Swansea this weekend and defeat would surely be impossible to bounce back from.
Sunderland would be long gone without Jermain Defoe
The fact that Jermain Defoe has scored 14 goals this season, more than Sergio Aguero or Eden Hazard, yet Sunderland are still bottom of the league and six points from safety tells you all you need to know about the Black Cats.
Yet, so often have they found form around this time and pulled off a miraculous great escape that many would consider them more likely to retain their Premier League status than Hull City and Middlesbrough. Conversely, the same was said and thought of Wigan for a number of years before it finally caught up with them and they fell out of the top flight.
Read: Gus Poyet’s first starting XI at Sunderland: Where are they now?
One major difference this season for the Black Cats is that they have no new manager bounce, or any real quality January recruits to settle in and make an impact. David Moyes isn’t going anywhere and Joleon Lescottt and a couple of Everton outcasts were the only players to arrive in January.
One suspects this season will be a great escape too many for Sunderland. They face Burnley at home this weekend, a game you would fancy them to win. Any other outcome and you would think the Premier League could start waving goodbye to David Moyes’ men.
Leicester City look rejuvenated under Craig Shakespeare
Of the teams Middlesbrough, Hull City and Sunderland and desperately chasing in order to get out of trouble, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace seem the most catchable. Leicester look dangerous and capable of scoring goals and winning games since Claudio Ranieri’s departure, whilst Swansea are so utterly transformed under Paul Clement.
Sam Allardyce is finally having the impact so many always expected him to have at Selhurst Park. The ex-England boss has more talent than any of the bottom three at his disposal, and following back-to-back wins, most would fancy them to keep their heads above the water.
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Bournemouth’s point at Old Trafford at the weekend could be huge, more than just putting another point on the board, it should give the Cherries that bit of belief they need to ensure that they don’t get seriously dragged into a relegation scrap. For all the reasons mentioned above, it’s easy to see why some are starting to fear for Middlesbrough, Hull and Sunderland.
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