Premier League 2024/25 Relegation Tips
The new Premier League season is fast-approaching as another rollercoaster campaign in England's top flight prepares for lift-off.
Champions Manchester City will be hoping to continue their dominance at the top, but at the bottom, the race to survive is every bit as engaging.
As they so often are, the newly-promoted trio of clubs are amongst the favourites for immediate relegation – with Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton eager to avoid a first-time Championship return.
Everton, after the trials and tribulations of last season, are also short in the betting, with Nottingham Forest, Wolves, Brentford and Fulham also amongst the clubs the market expects to be loitering in the bottom half.
Setting a new low bar
Last season raised the bar for under-performance as Luton Town eventually succumbed alongside Burnley and Sheffield United.
The Blades were blunt from the get-go, while Burnley's desire to stay true to their principles led to their demise but didn't stop Vincent Kompany getting the Bayern Munich gig. The Hatters were nothing if not brave, but eventually, their antics at Kenilworth Road were not enough.
The three combined to set a record low total of points for a Premier League bottom three. That figure stood at 76, which Cardiff City, Fulham and Huddersfield finished with in 2018-19, but the bottom three last season achieved 10 points fewer.
While the market for this season shows the three promoted clubs as favourites for relegation, it is worth noting that last season was only the second time in the Premier League era that fate has befallen all three new boys.
Foxes in the headlights
At one stage last season Leicester seemed destined for a procession in the Championship. The Foxes faltered, badly, but so too did Ipswich and Leeds during a frenetic run-in as Enzo Maresca took his squad up as champions before departing for Chelsea.
Steve Cooper has come in and is no stranger to a relegation fight in the East Midlands after his time at Nottingham Forest.
Both clubs are expected to be scrapping for survival in the coming season.
The Foxes are being linked to Japanese playmaker Reo Hatate, though former boss Brendan Rodgers may have something to say about that. Kalvin Philips is another name to be linked to the King Power Stadium.
Keeping hold of goalkeeper Mads Hermansen could be another key summer storyline, with Leicester said to have slapped a £40m price tag on the Dane.
Tractor Boys have it all to prove
Ipswich Town were the surprise package in the Championship last time as Kieran McKenna got the Tractor Boys rolling to automatic promotion. In doing so they joined a select group of clubs to achieve back-to-back promotions to reach the Premier League. The last two clubs to manage that feat were able to stay afloat amongst the big boys. One of those was Southampton – the Saints joined Leicester and Ipswich after winning the playoffs.
Keeping hold of McKenna could be the biggest plus for Ipswich this summer, though he has emerged as a possible contender to replace Gareth Southgate as England boss and that could be a hard job to turn down, if the speculation is accurate.
Forest fire may burn out
Nuno Espirito Santo managed to stave off relegation after arriving at the City Ground in December but that survival had as much to do with the three teams that hit the trap door as anything else.
That low points tally was damning and Forest – in 17th – were seven points adrift of Brentford immediately above them.
The former Wolves boss enjoyed initial success in the Premier League, but that feels like quite a while ago after his failed stint at Tottenham and the time spent in Saudi Arabia.
The Portuguese had better quality at his disposal at Molineux, and player turnover remains a concern at Forest.
History tells us that one of the promoted teams will make a fist of things and crisis club Everton might not be as bad as last time. Nottingham Forest could be on borrowed time in the Premier League.