There is plenty of pressure on the managers who are chasing honours at the top end of the Premier League table. But if you want to know about real pressure, take a look at the bottom six.
The relegation battle is always a brutal one with high stakes. The loss of revenue can cause a spiral of decline in the worst-case scenario, and this season is no different. But it’s hard to see how the current bottom three can get out of the mess they find themselves in. Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley, and West Ham United to a lesser degree, have been cut adrift, and with just 14 games left to play, they each need a minor miracle (or major in the Wolves’ case).
While the Premier League 2026 betting odds say Wolves are all but doomed on a paltry eight points and a whopping 18 from safety, these miracles do happen. Think back to 2015 when Leicester City were anchored at the bottom of the league table at the beginning of April with just four wins and 19 points from 29 games. The Foxes somehow won seven of their last nine games to finish 14th, and the following season, Leicester famously won the Premier League title, with a starting price of 5001.00.
This SBOTOP writer, an unashamed Burnley fan, still believes that Scott Parker’s Clarets are not yet finished, but they are mighty close. It has been a season of near misses for Burnley, conceding late penalties, missing golden chances, and landing on the wrong side of seven one-goal defeats, while struggling to turn draws into wins when the chances arose. But the Clarets are showing signs of fight, with three consecutive draws against Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham.
This is a big week for Burnley. On Monday night, they visit Sunderland, and the Black Cats are already as good as safe after making a fast start to the campaign. On Saturday, the Clarets host 18th-place West Ham in a relegation six-pointer. These are both winnable games, and a timely six points would give Parker’s men a brighter glimmer of hope with 13 games left to play.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s West Ham are currently six points from safety, losing to Chelsea on Saturday after picking up consecutive wins. Should the Hammers win at Turf Moor on Saturday, or even draw, they will remain the team with the best chance of survival. But who could West Ham United catch?
Like Sunderland, newly-promoted Leeds United picked up plenty of good Premier League 2026 results early in the campaign. But with 26 points, they are just six above West Ham, and February is a huge month for Daniel Farke’s men.
Leeds were humbled at home to Arsenal on Saturday, thrashed 4-0, and they have a chance to bounce back when they host Nottingham Forest on Friday night. Both teams are on 26 points, both with a goal difference of -11, and Leeds are ahead courtesy of having scored more goals.
Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche is a formidable opponent, and he knows how to eke out mucky wins, as well as facing up to the best teams in the division. I would back the Midlanders to get a result in Yorkshire, which would then leave Leeds needing to pick up points during the rest of February with matches away to Chelsea and Aston Villa and at home to Manchester City. Forest follow this match up with a home game against Wolves, and so they could put clear daylight between them and the bottom three or four pretty quickly.
That would leave Leeds and West Ham battling it out, with Burnley still fighting to stay alive, but there are a couple more teams which are still not safe, by any means.
FA Cup holders Crystal Palace started the season brilliantly but have been on an alarming slide, as well as crashing out of the FA Cup to non-league Macclesfield. Manager Oliver Glasner has said he is off at the end of the campaign, and the Eagles have continued to sell their best players, with captain Marc Guehi going to Manchester City in the January window. Palace fans will certainly be watching West Ham and Burnley, hoping that neither of the Claret teams makes a charge.
And then there is Thomas Frank’s Spurs. Tottenham are yet another team which is “too good to go down,” but bigger fish than the Whites have sunk in the past. They finished 17th last term and are currently 14th on 29 points. With three points from the last five games, if they carry on with that ratio, Spurs will finish on around 37, which should be enough to see them safe. But it surely won’t come to that under a manager as good as Frank, so I still say it will be Wolves definitely, Burnley most probably, then either West Ham United or Leeds.
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