Rio Ferdinand has claimed that Newcastle United and Leeds United won’t get relegated this season, as he told Vibe with Five.
The former centre-back thinks that the Premier League’s current bottom three – Norwich City, Watford and Burnley – will go down.
Newcastle have won three Premier League games on the bounce and they are now four points ahead of 18th-placed Norwich City.
Whilst those in Leeds colours are six points from the drop zone – other than bottom-of-the-table Burnley, both Newcastle and Leeds have played a game less than Dean Smith’s men.
Nonetheless, following the weekend results, Ferdinand issued this blunt response on who will go down.
“I think the three teams that are in the bottom three now go down. That’s it. Newcastle are out.
“Leeds and Brentford could get dragged in. But I just think the three teams in the bottom three, they have to win too many games and the others have to lose too many to get out.”
The issue facing some teams, not just those battling the drop, is the indifferent number of games teams have played.
Burnley, for instance, have only played 21 matches, yet 14th-placed Brentford have played 25 games – their gap is ten points.
It’s hard to gauge where teams are at, and in truth, you would rather have the points on the board, rather than the games in hand.
Either way, given the wave somebody like Newcastle are riding, added with their January signings, they should feel that they have more than enough to stay up now.
Whilst Leeds, even though they can get smacked on certain weeks, once again will feel they have enough going forward, not forgetting their crucial players will return soon.
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