The final relegation place will almost certainly be taken by either Swansea City, Hull City or Burnley.
With Sunderland and Middlesbrough as good as down now, there is only one relegation place remaining. Victory at Anfield yesterday surely means survival for Crystal Palace, who now find themselves 12th in the Premier League, seven points clear of the bottom three with a game in hand. That last spot will almost certainly go to one of Swansea City, Hull City or Burnley, with the Welsh and Yorkshire side still the more likely of the trio.
Having looked safe at one stage, Burnley have only won one of their last 11 games, and now find themselves just 5 points above Swansea City and only 3 points above Hull City. The Clarets though will take confidence in the fact that they still have home games against West Brom and West Ham to come, with the Lancashire side having been so impressive at home this season.
Robbie Brady could make it a hat-trick of consecutive relegations at Burnley
The worry for Burnley has to be the form of Hull City and Swansea City. Both sides have been much improved under new management, with the Swans winning three of their last 10 and the Tigers winning four. Under Marco Silva, Hull City have been even more formidable at home than the Clarets themselves, and even managed to find a way to win with only 10 men for most of their game against Watford on Saturday.
The bookies are clearly confident that Burnley have enough about them, offering odds as high as 25/1 on Sean Dyche’s men making the drop. The best you will find for Hull City is 7/4, and when it comes to the Swans, odds of around 1/2 tell you most now fancy the bottom three to stay as it is.
Hull City manager Marco Silva and Swansea City manager Paul Clement
A look at the run-in makes such confidence difficult to justify. All three sides have four games remaining – the first, Burnley’s – are presented below:
Crystal Palace (A)
West Brom (H)
Bournemouth (A)
West Ham (H)
Those two home games against West Brom and West Ham should give Burnley fans great confidence. With a five point cushion already, the Clarets will almost certainly only need one more win to retain their Premier League status, and they should get it against either West Brom or West Ham, both of whom are unlikely to have a great deal to play for in these final fixtures.
Burnley manager Sean Dyche
Here are the remaining fixtures for Hull City and Marco Silva:
Southampton (A)
Sunderland (H)
Crystal Palace (A)
Tottenham (H)
For some reason, Hull City’s home game against Sunderland sticks out as a huge potential banana skin for Marco Silva. The Portuguese coach has an excellent home record spanning across three different clubs and Sunderland have been abject for almost the entirety of the season. Silva won’t let his players get complacent and they have, so far, won the games they have been expected to win under him, but the Tigers rarely do it the easy way.
If, as it may well do, it comes down to the final day, Tottenham Hotspur will present a real stern test. In Palace and Spurs, Hull have the divisions two form sides both still to play, and will be hoping the title has already been wrapped up should they need anything on the final day.
Hull City face Tottenham Hotspur on the final day of the season
Finally, Swansea City’s remaining games:
Manchester United (A)
Everton (H)
Sunderland (A)
West Brom (H)
Swansea City end the season with two very winnable games, but face tough opposition in the two which precede their trip to Sunderland and hosting of West Brom. Manchester United don’t lose many games, and Everton can be ruthless against the divisions ‘lesser’ sides. Sunderland should be relegated by the time Paul Clement’s team head to the North East, which could be a positive or a negative for the Swans, whilst West Brom having little to play for ought be a big help.
Swansea City’s next game is a trip to Old Trafford
Ultimately, it would still take a huge meltdown for Burnley to drop into 18th place. They have two winnable games at Turf Moor, where they have been so strong this season, and only need to win one of them. Hull City have a real opportunity to open up a gap over Swansea City in their next two games, facing Southampton and Sunderland whilst the Swans have to play Manchester United and Everton.
However, the home game against Sunderland is another must-win. If, in two games time, Hull City haven’t extended their points advantage over Swansea City, one could quite reasonably argue that the Swans would be better placed for survival with two eminently winnable final games.
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