Premier League Relegation Predictions
Premier League Relegation 2017
By Matt Pitt
Watching your soccer team be relegated from their current division can be heart-breaking. It is something that has happened to me twice.
Not only does it mean that you have spent the entire season seeing your team underperform and lose plenty of matches, it confirms that you will be playing against worse teams, and witnessing lesser games the following season.
With so much money being awarded to teams in the Premier League these days, relegation is a disaster for the teams who go down. Sadly, three teams have to be relegated in 2016-17, and this is the trio who I think it will be.
Hull City: -150 with Bovada to be relegated
Hull City fans’ joy of being promoted from the Championship turned to despair when manager Steve Bruce announced he was stepping down from his role.
A few days later, Mohamed Diame, who scored the winning goal in the playoff final, transferred to Newcastle United in the division below despite Hull offering Diame more money.
Something hasn’t been right with Hull for a while, which is down to their eccentric owners who have fallen out of favour with the fans after trying to rename the club, and several other ideas that didn’t sit well with the Hull faithful.
To stand a chance of survival in the Premier League, you need stability and investment. Hull have neither at the moment and the -150 on them being relegated, and the +225 on them finishing rock bottom looks to be an absolute steal.
Burnley: -110 with Bovada to be relegated
Burnley are another of the newly promoted sides who look set to return from whence the came after only one season in the Premier League, just as they did the last time they were promoted.
The senior management and board members of Burnley are not prepared to risk the club’s long-term future by investing heavily in players, but this is going to cost them dearly in the short-term, that is for certain.
When Burnley were last in the Premier League they struggled to score goals. This time around they have Andre Gray who bagged 23 goals in 41 games last season, but is unproven at the highest level.
Burnley also released midfielder Joey Barton as the season ended, and he will be very difficult to replace, especially the experience he would have brought to the team.
While I can’t see Burnley finishing bottom of the league (+400 with Bovada), I can’t see them having enough quality to stay in the Premier League, so snap up the -110 on Burnley to be relegated, perhaps parlaying them with Hull to join them in the relegation zone.
West Bromwich Albion: +225 with Bovada to be relegated
West Brom may be +225 fifth favorites for the drop, but I think they’ll go down with Hull and Burnley. This is because they just do not have enough firepower to keep them in the league.
While West Brom had the seventh best defense in the league in 2015-16, only one team had a worse attack. Scoring only 34 goals in 38 games is shocking, and looks to get worse because West Brom are allowing Saido Berahino to leave, and have replaced him with Diafra Sakho who I am probably better at soccer than!
Manager Tony Pullis’ negative style of play even has his own supporters on his back, they’ll be calling for his head before the end of the season, especially when they’re in a relegation dogfight, mark my words.
Possible Relegation Contenders
Middlesbrough: +150 with Bovada to be relegated
The last of the three newly promoted sides are Middlesbrough, and they are third favorites to be relegated at +150. However, I have a sneaking feeling they will do enough to stay in the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Boro are solid at the back – they only conceded 31 goals in 46 games last season, keeping 22 clean sheets – and have options going forward.
They also have a chairman who is prepared to back his manager financially, which is a Godsend in the January transfer window if the squad needs a little more quality adding to it.
That said, don’t expect Middlesbrough to be finishing in the top half of the table, they’ll still be fighting at the bottom, and could get dragged into a battle for survival if they fail to secure points in their home games with regularity.
Watford: +200 with Bovada to be relegated
Watford ended the 2015-16 campaign in terrible form, which ultimately cost their manager Quique Flores his job.
While relatively solid in defense, Watford’s strikers were too inconsistent throughout the season, and they’ve not added any real quality during the off-season.
+200 seems about fair for Watford to be relegated, but those odds could shorten early in the season because Watford face Southampton, Chelsea, Arsenal, West Ham, and Manchester United in their first five games, and I can’t see them even getting a single point from that run. Sorry Watford fans.
Category : Soccer Betting Picks
