Are The Bottom 3 Already Doomed In The EPL?
Credit - https://pixabay.com/photos/soccer-field-ball-premier-league-5510534/
Over the last 30 years, the teams that have found themselves woefully adrift at the bottom of the league at Christmas have been relegated to the second tier the following season. Of course, there have been a few exceptions to this rule over the years, but generally speaking, if your team hasn't dug itself out of the relegation zone by January, then the writing appears to be on the wall.
We’ve taken a look at the odds, the teams currently in the danger zone, whether they can dig themselves out, and whether some of the teams with breathing space could find themselves sucked into the relegation battle.
Navigating The Modern Betting Market
In the world of modern betting, there’s a 24/7 market for all sorts of sports and ideas. Even EPL outrights, such as relegation betting, are available throughout the season, often dictated and reshaped by form, injuries, suspensions, and off-field problems. We’ve seen these markets expand into other areas of professional sports, from the most mainstream to some of the newest ideas, such as professional video gaming.
The most popular esports in the world boast global audiences akin to some of the world’s top sports. Often, these markets and their popularity will also correlate with their betting markets.
For instance, the most popular esports in the world is League of Legends, which is a gaming phenomenon that appeals to hundreds of millions of people globally. The success of this market led to a raft of subdivisions, all of which have found success, including betting markets.
Those who bet on League of Legends games at Thunderpick know just how much these markets have inflated over the last decade, and how much they have grown in conjunction with innovative betting platforms that offer alternative payment options, such as crypto, thus expanding niche sectors and markets into the spotlight.
As you can see in the post below, the latest world championships in esports generate prize pools that are in the millions of dollars - and it is this new, changing global dynamic which has meant that betting markets, big and small, have been able to find their own audience.
Bye Bye To Wolves?
If at Christmas somebody had said Wolves will stay up, you’d look at them like they have two heads. While they still find themselves rock bottom of the EPL, they have looked much better recently, picking up results against Everton and Newcastle, and notching up their first win against fellow relegation candidates West Ham.
As it stands, they find themselves 15 points adrift with 16 games remaining. No team in the EPL has overcome such a gap. Even when West Ham stayed up thanks to Carlos Tevez in 2006, they bridged a gap of 10 points adrift, winning seven of their last nine games to stay in the top flight. While Wolves have turned a corner, they have left it too little, too late, and it’d be a monumental surprise if they managed to avoid the drop.
Burnley are likely to find themselves in a similar situation, lacking the firepower or consistency to mount a run of form that will help them escape their current predicament. Of all the teams most likely to escape the current mess, West Ham have a strong claim.
A fantastic win on the road against Spurs seems to have put one of the final nails in Thomas Frank’s coffin, and sacking feels almost inevitable at this stage. Yet, despite this, Burnley find themselves 8 points adrift of 17th-place Nottingham Forest.
What Will The Table Say In May?
When the season draws to a close, it feels as though the teams that currently reside in the bottom three are going to be the ones that go down. Wolves are as good as gone, with bookies now having them as a dead cert to face the drop. Things are not looking much better for Burnley, really, but it would take a dip in form from either Leeds United or Nottingham Forest for the Hammers to dig themselves out of it.
They are a club in turmoil at the moment, despite spirits being high after the Spurs win, and while Leeds seem to have enough to avoid relegation this year, if they lose their star striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who has recently picked up a player of the month award, the first Leeds player to pick it up since Rio Ferdinand, then losing his goals could see them drift into danger.
However, at the moment, the bookies think the bottom three teams will be in the second tier next season, and judging by the current evidence, it is difficult to disagree. It’s going to take a miracle to see Wolves avoid the drop, and if they do, it’ll be one of the most remarkable stories we’ve seen in the EPL for decades.