Can you make a case for 3 teams finishing below Leicester?
These questions are getting bleaker by the week. We are one of 9 poor teams in the Premier League this season - but can our writers find 3 that might finish below us in the table?
Yes
I've said all along there will be 3 worse teams than us, but I have to confess given our form after the World Cup I've started to panic a bit!
I still think Southampton will go down, even though they've done the double over us, as they've only won 6 games and scored just 20 goals. For that reason, I also think Bournemouth's lack of quality means they will still drop despite beating Liverpool on Saturday.
Wolves and Everton don't score many goals, but I think they will have enough to stay up.
With West Ham in Europe, I think they could be the third team to drop. Leeds are quite similar to us in terms of goals scored and conceded and goal difference is like an extra point in a relegation battle.
Forest still aren't out of it and not only is their goal difference and away form terrible, they also have a very difficult run in. Crystal Palace haven't won in 2023 or had a shot on target in three games as well, so they could easily get sucked into it with Brighton and Arsenal to play before us.
We need to get 16 points on the board before the final day against West Ham, because I don't think we've got the character to stay up on the final day.
Jordan Halford
Maybe
It’s actually reassuring to look at how bad everyone else is rather than concentrating on the mood around Leicester. There are so many candidates for the drop this year.
Last night’s results - Palace losing at Brighton, Southampton losing at home to Brentford - again showed that quite convincingly.
Let’s go through the candidates.
Palace haven’t won this calendar year but I can see their home form picking up eventually.
Wolves seemed to me to be on the right path but they’ve only won one of their past 5 games and their final 3 fixtures include trips to Manchester United and Arsenal.
Forest seem like they’ll get enough from their home games but again, they have nasty fixtures remaining.
Everton will be fine. They’ve already won 3 of their 4 home games under Sean Dyche 1-0. Plus they’re bound to beat us at our place somehow, even if it involves an emergency loan for Richarlison.
Bournemouth are scrapping for their lives. I can see them getting out of it.
West Ham seem to be in a similar position to us in lots of aspects. That last day could be horrendous.
Best find some names here. I’m going to say we’ll finish above Leeds, Southampton and... maybe Palace or West Ham? It’s going to be a horrible couple of months.
David Bevan
Kind of
Right now, form suggests there absolutely aren't three teams worse than us – so I'll choose to answer this in delusional hope instead.
Three of our last four Premier League defeats have come against two of the top three, and Chelsea. The other was an abomination of a result that surely (surely?) would have gone differently on another day when Kelechi Iheanacho wasn't playing with his brain detached.
Coupled with the fact our run-in is kinder than other clubs, Victor Kristiansen might only miss one more game and Youri Tielemans should be back sooner after that, and there is some wriggle room for optimism... however small.
I'll stand by Southampton for the drop, as they really don't look up to much and I'm not sure how sustainable their last two results are.
The rest would be pure guesswork if I'm being honest – at this point I'm merely hoping that we somehow turn some individual excellence into a few wins and find some grit within ourselves to get this thing done. Both of those things have been alarmingly lacking up to now.
Joe Brewin
No
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if we finished bottom. In a season where there are 9 terrible teams, that's atrocious.
You could argue the case for any of the others around us up to and including Palace due to a mix of the standard reasons teams go down, notably lack of goals.
Then there is Southampton who would and should be adrift from 'the rest' if it wasn't for us giving them 6 points. Losing to them twice should probably relegate us on the spot.
West Ham fans seem to be copy and pasting Leicester fans comments about their club and with the additional European games (that I'm very jealous of) they could be another 'too good to go down' mentality sleepwalking their way to relegation.
I'll say it a thousand times over - every other team down there have way more fight than us and, crucially, are picking up points.
I can't pick 3, I think we are doomed.
Becky Taylor
