And then there were five.
With respect to the unsteadiness of Watford and Brighton as well as West Brom’s fine form and miracle pleas, there are five teams squarely in the relegation battle with two weeks to go in the 2018-19 Premier League season.
[ RECAP: West Ham 1-4 Man City ]
Southampton and Stoke are in the drop zone, 17th place Swansea faces both of them, and West Ham and Huddersfield Town are by no means safe with 3-point advantages on the drop zone.
Some scenarios:
- There’s a perfect storm of Saturday results that could leave Southampton, West Ham, and Huddersfield on 35 points, Swansea on 34, and Stoke on 33 heading into the final 8 days of the season.
—-> And if Swans and Saints then drew their May 8 match, it could be 36, 35, 35, 35, 33 on Championship Sunday! - Another scenario which saw Stoke, Swans, West Ham, Huddersfield Town and Saints winning next weekend while Brighton loses would drag the Gulls into the mix.
- There are also Saturday scenarios that see Stoke relegated and Southampton on life support, rendering the potential biggest game of the bunch — the Swans-Saints match — close to moot.
- What is West Brom’s way out? The Baggies need to beat Spurs at the Hawthorns and Palace at Selhurst Park to move to 34 points. Then, West Brom would need Stoke to beat Swans, Swans to draw Southampton, and Stoke, Swans, and Saints to lose their remaining matches.
In that last scenario, there is no possibility of a relegation playoff. If Swansea and West Brom were level on on 34 points, it would take some bizarre results to level the other categories. West Brom (minus-24) would lower its mark with the wins while Swans would sink from minus-25.
A playoff is possible with other teams.
Saturday
Stoke City vs. Crystal Palace — 7:30 a.m. ET
Bournemouth vs. Swansea City — 10 a.m. ET
Leicester City vs. West Ham — 10 a.m. ET
Everton vs. Southampton — 12:30 p.m. ET
May 6
Manchester City vs. Huddersfield Town — 8:30 a.m. ET
May 8
Swansea City vs. Southampton — 2:45 p.m. ET
May 9
Chelsea vs. Huddersfield Town — 2:45 p.m. ET
May 10
West Ham United vs. Manchester United — 2:45 p.m. ET
Decision Day — May 13 — all matches at 10 a.m. ET
Huddersfield Town vs. Arsenal
West Ham vs. Everton
Southampton vs. Man City
Swansea City vs. Stoke City
STANDINGS
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Home | Away | PTS | |||
| Manchester City | 35 | 30 | 3 | 2 | 102 | 26 | 76 | 15-1-1 | 15-2-1 | 93 | |||
| Manchester United | 34 | 23 | 5 | 6 | 65 | 26 | 39 | 13-2-2 | 10-3-4 | 74 | |||
| Liverpool | 36 | 20 | 12 | 4 | 80 | 37 | 43 | 11-7-0 | 9-5-4 | 72 | |||
| Tottenham Hotspur | 34 | 20 | 8 | 6 | 66 | 31 | 35 | 10-4-2 | 10-4-4 | 68 | |||
| Chelsea | 35 | 20 | 6 | 9 | 60 | 34 | 26 | 10-3-4 | 10-3-5 | 66 | |||
| Arsenal | 34 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 66 | 46 | 20 | 14-2-2 | 3-4-9 | 57 | |||
| Burnley | 36 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 35 | 32 | 3 | 7-5-6 | 7-7-4 | 54 | |||
| Everton | 36 | 13 | 9 | 14 | 42 | 54 | -12 | 10-3-5 | 3-6-9 | 48 | |||
| Leicester City | 35 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 49 | 52 | -3 | 6-6-5 | 5-5-8 | 44 | |||
| Newcastle United | 35 | 11 | 8 | 16 | 35 | 44 | -9 | 7-4-7 | 4-4-9 | 41 | |||
| Crystal Palace | 36 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 41 | 54 | -13 | 6-5-7 | 3-6-9 | 38 | |||
| Bournemouth | 36 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 42 | 60 | -18 | 6-5-7 | 3-6-9 | 38 | |||
| Watford | 35 | 10 | 8 | 17 | 42 | 60 | -18 | 6-6-6 | 4-2-11 | 38 | |||
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 35 | 8 | 13 | 14 | 32 | 47 | -15 | 6-8-4 | 2-5-10 | 37 | |||
| West Ham United | 35 | 8 | 11 | 16 | 43 | 67 | -24 | 6-5-6 | 2-6-10 | 35 | |||
| Huddersfield Town | 35 | 9 | 8 | 18 | 27 | 56 | -29 | 6-5-7 | 3-3-11 | 35 | |||
| Swansea City | 35 | 8 | 9 | 18 | 27 | 52 | -25 | 6-3-8 | 2-6-10 | 33 | |||
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| Southampton | 35 | 6 | 14 | 15 | 35 | 54 | -19 | 4-7-7 | 2-7-8 | 32 | |||
| Stoke City | 36 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 32 | 65 | -33 | 5-5-8 | 1-7-10 | 30 | |||
| West Bromwich Albion | 36 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 30 | 54 | -24 | 2-9-7 | 3-4-11 | 28 | |||