Premier League relegation battle: How Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham, Leeds, Nottingham Forest are looking in bid for top

Premier League relegation battle: How Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham, Leeds, Nottingham Forest are looking in bid for top-flight survival

ByCallum Rice-Coates

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The fight to avoid relegation from the Premier League is hotting up with just five games of the season remaining.

Tottenham Hotspur currently occupy the final place in the bottom three, with both Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers already relegated.

West Ham United are two points above Spurs, with Nottingham Forest eight clear in 16th. Leeds United, meanwhile, are edging closer to safety, having reached the 40-point mark.

But which teams have the most difficult fixtures, and where might the relegation battle be decided? TNT Sports takes a look at every team's remaining games.

Tottenham Hotspur - 31 points

April 25: Wolves v Spurs

May 3: Aston Villa v Spurs

May 11: Spurs v Leeds

May 17: Chelsea v Spurs

May 24: Spurs v Everton

Spurs' demise has been the season’s most striking storyline. Should the unthinkable happen and they be relegated, it would rank among the most remarkable collapses of the Premier League era.

There has been a sense of schadenfreude among Premier League viewers as Spurs slipped to 18th, and their run-in offers little comfort for supporters.

Spurs will look to end a 15-game league winless run against already-relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday, before a difficult trip to Aston Villa the following weekend - live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.

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There may be hope within Spurs ranks that Leeds United will be on the proverbial beach when Daniel Farke’s men visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Similarly, their clash with Chelsea could yet yield points, with The Blues’ UEFA Champions League hopes potentially dashed by then.

Their final game, at home to Everton, could determine whether Spurs remain one of six clubs never to have been relegated from the Premier League.

The odds, however, do not look good. Our friends at Opta Sports give them a 59.1% chance of relegation - the worst among the sides still fighting for survival.

Opta’s model predicts Roberto De Zerbi’s side will finish 18th on 37 points.

West Ham United - 33 points

April 25: West Ham v Everton

May 2: Brentford v West Ham

May 10: West Ham v Arsenal

May 17: Newcastle v West Ham

May 24: West Ham v Leeds

Opta deem West Ham to be the most likely side to take Spurs' place in the drop zone, with the analytics company giving The Hammers a 36.4% chance of relegation.

But Nuno Espirito Santo appears to be getting a tune out of his side, with the club having only lost one of their last five Premier League games, and claiming a respectable five wins and four draws from their last 12 encounters.

West Ham also have the benefit of playing three of their last five games at home, where they have not lost in the league since January 6, though the fixtures are not straightforward.

The Hammers welcome Everton to the London Stadium on Saturday, with David Moyes' outfit still in the hunt for a European spot. West Ham then travel to Brentford, who are also targeting European football, before welcoming Premier League title hopefuls Arsenal.

Their final two games of the season are away at Newcastle United and at home to Leeds United - two sides that will likely have little to play for by then.

Opta's model has West Ham finishing in 17th on 39 points.

Nottingham Forest - 39 points

May 4: Chelsea v Nottingham Forest

May 10: Nottingham Forest v Newcastle

May 17: Manchester United v Nottingham Forest

May 24: Nottingham Forest v Bournemouth

Nottingham Forest, like Leeds, have timed an upturn in form perfectly.

Having looked in peril for much of the season, Vitor Pereira's side now have an eight-point cushion. Indeed, Opta rate Forest's chances of going down at just 4.3%.

A 3-0 win over Spurs in north London last month could prove the most important result of the season for Forest, who followed that with a commendable 1-1 draw against Aston Villa and a 4-1 drubbing of Burnley.

Morgan Gibbs-White got a hat-trick against the latter, and his form is likely to be crucial should Forest stay clear of the bottom three.

The England midfielder netted again in a statement 5-0 win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, whilst also grabbing an assist, as Pereira's side edged ever closer to survival after condemning The Black Cats to only their fourth home defeat of the season.

The Tricky Trees do have some challenging games to come, though, as they look to confirm their safety in the top flight.

Their final four games start with a trip to Chelsea. On paper, it should be a tough game, but Chelsea have lost each of their last five matches, all without scoring a goal.

They will travel to Old Trafford in May, but before then, they face a winnable home game against out-of-form Newcastle United.

Forest end the season against Bournemouth at the City Ground, with The Cherries still potentially fighting for a European spot.

These are not easy games, and there is another consideration: Forest are still in the UEFA Europa League, with a two-legged semi-final against Aston Villa to come - live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.

If they get through to the final, Pereira's team will be travelling to Istanbul looking for European silverware just four days before their final Premier League match.

The hope will be that they are safe before then, but a couple of defeats against Sunderland and Chelsea could make things complicated.

Opta have Forest finishing 16th on 42 points.

Leeds United - 40 points

May 1: Leeds v Burnley

May 11: Spurs v Leeds

May 17: Leeds v Brighton

May 24: West Ham v Leeds

Daniel Farke appears to have guided Leeds to the brink of safety, and he deserves plenty of credit for that.

After two consecutive seasons of every newly-promoted team going straight back down, Leeds, along with Sunderland, are close to bucking the trend.

An unbeaten run of five games has helped The Whites move clear of the bottom three, with a huge 2-1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford the highlight.

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Leeds followed that up with a comfortable 3-0 victory over relegated Wolves, and then earned a 2-2 draw at in-form Bournemouth thanks to an injury-time Sean Longstaff goal.

Unlike the sides beneath them, Leeds only have four games remaining. The first of them, at home to relegated Burnley, looks like the most winnable. And three more points would all but guarantee their place in next season's Premier League.

If they slip up to Burnley, a defeat at Spurs could potentially see Leeds dragged back into the scrap for survival.

They then host Brighton & Hove Albion, themselves on an excellent run and aiming to qualify for the UEFA Europa League, before a final-day trip to West Ham.

Leeds will hope to be safe before their trip to the London Stadium, but if they struggle in the previous three fixtures, there is the potential, though unlikely, for a relegation showdown against West Ham.

Opta predict Leeds to finish in 15th on 46 points, and believes they have a mere 0.3% chance of being relegated.

Are Newcastle United and Crystal Palace definitely safe?

Mathematically, both sides could still go down, but it would require one of the most astonishing finales imaginable.

Crystal Palace (43 points) and Newcastle United (42 points) will feel relatively safe, with only four sides ever relegated with more than 40 points in a 38-game Premier League season. In fact, no side has ever been relegated on 43 points.

However, Palace fans of a certain vintage will remember the inaugural Premier League campaign, when the club performed a lap of honour after their final home game with Steve Coppell’s side eight points clear of Oldham Athletic in the drop zone.

Oldham needed to win all three of their remaining games to have any chance of survival - a tall order given they had taken just two points from their previous four matches.

Long story short, a week later, Oldham did the seemingly impossible and Palace were relegated with 49 points (albeit in a 22-team Premier League season).

Opta predicted Palace to finish in 13th on 49 points, and Newcastle to finish a place below them on 48 points.

Who will go down?

Stream the Premier League, men’s and women’s FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League and more live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.

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