Wolves, Burnley and West Ham are hanging precariously on the bottom branches at Christmas. As we approach the halfway point of the season, what do the ghosts of Christmas past tell us about the relegation battle? Only four times in 33 Premier League seasons has the side bottom on Christmas Day survived, with the most recent being Wolves in 2022-23.
Wolves, Burnley and West Ham are hanging precariously on the bottom branches at Christmas.
As we approach the halfway point of the season, what do the ghosts of Christmas past tell us about the relegation battle?
Only four times in 33 Premier League seasons has the side bottom on Christmas Day survived, with the most recent being Wolves in 2022-23.
But with just two points won and a record 16 points from safety, it would take not just a Christmas miracle but a New Year's, Valentine's and Easter one too for bottom side Wolves to survive once again.
Second-bottom Burnley have a fighting chance because almost half the teams in their position at Christmas have stayed up, although the only time that's happened in the past eight seasons was when Eddie Howe led Newcastle to 11th in 2021-22.
West Ham fans have the most reason to be optimistic as the team in 18th has survived in two out of three seasons on average, most recently Nottingham Forest in 2022-23 and Wolves last time out.
The most likely outcome is that one of West Ham, Burnley and Wolves will stay up as that's happened just over half the time, with two teams surviving in 12 of the previous 33 seasons.
The three teams bottom at Christmas have never all survived, while only four times in Premier League history have all three been relegated, although two of those occurred recently, in 2020-21 and 2023-24.
Category: General Sports
