The Premier League’s relegation battle is just as exciting as the hunt for the title for a plethora of fans that watch England’s top league in action each and every season.
The competition has one of the biggest reputations around the world because of the strength of teams that continue to compete in it each year, which makes the league one of the most difficult to navigate.
The 2020/21 edition of the competition is unlikely going to be anything out of the norm, though, as there will be expectations amongst many that teams will battle it out in another classic relegation tussle at the bottom of the Premier League table.
Indeed, whilst the 40-point total has built a rather mythical reputation as being enough points to remain in the Premier League at the end of a campaign, it has since been revealed that data from the previous 25 seasons have shown that a solid start to life in the top division can also produce survival.
Research conducted by Betway Football shows that teams who have managed to acquire 15 or more points frm their first 10 Premier League games of the season will remain in the division, as there has been a 100% success rate since the 1995/96 edition of the competition.
However, a poor start is not necessarily the be-all and end-all for life in the Premier League, though. Clubs can still survive the drop and there has been a positive trend for those that sit rock-bottom after the first 10 matches of the season.
Provided they have managed to obtain three points or more, then the average finish over the last two-decades-and-a-half has seen clubs finish just outside the relegation zone.
Perhaps the urgency kicks in a little earlier than other sides, as those who start off a little better do see their average position in the league slid a little. For example, those that are sitting above the relegation zone after the 10-game period tend to find that they get dragged into the battle a little more than they ought to, with 16 teams having been relegated since 1995 after having been outside of the bottom three after their first 10 matches.
Interestingly, teams that sit in 18th after 10 games have a 60% survival success rate according to the recent trends, although that could certainly depend on the number of points they had managed to acquire in that period.
For instance, clubs that have between three and eight points may find it difficult to survive with success rates of 42.3% and 55.7% respectively. However, those clubs that have fail to record three points from the first 10 games can say goodbye to the Premier League and say hello to the Championship as they are guaranteed to go down (per the trend from 1995).
