The 2024/24 Premier League season is well underway and there are already plenty of talking points. Are Manchester City on track for four in a row or can Arsenal stop them? Can Manchester United rescue their campaign after a ropey start? While all the attention is focused on the summit of the English top flight, we’re shining a spotlight on those less fortunate, those who could well find themselves staring down the barrel of the drop.
Premier League Relegation Favourites
If you were focused on relegation favourites ahead of betting on football today, you would find five teams – some predictable, others less so – leading the odds to face the drop. The latest Premier League relegation odds have Luton Town (2/9), Sheffield United (1/3), Everton (17/10), Burnley (23/10), and Wolves (5/2) as favourites to be playing their football in the Championship next season.
You could argue Luton had the toughest start of any team, facing Brighton and Chelsea in their opening two fixtures. It didn’t end well for the Hatters – they were hammered 4-1 and 3-0. What will be more concerning for Luton fans is that the business done in the summer window didn’t appear to fill their squad with any real quality. The only proven Premier League talent they added to their ranks was 29-year-old Ross Barkley, who joined on a free after a solid, yet unspectacular time in France with Lille. If performances fail to improve and they don’t recruit in January, their fate is as good as sealed.
Our new number six. ✊@RBarkley8 | #COYH
— Luton Town FC (@LutonTown) August 9, 2024
Are the Newcomers Heading Straight Back Down?
Sheffield United – another Premier League newcomer – have found the going tough in the early stages. It’s not too difficult to see why. They let their two best players leave, including classy midfielder Sander Berge. Unlike Luton, they splashed the cash in an attempt to plug those holes. While £15m signing Gustavo Hamer will certainly sure things up defensively, the 26-year-old is unlikely to add the attacking output that is so desperately lacking.
Last season’s Championship winners received all the plaudits following their promotion to the top flight, and rightly so. Vincent Kompany completed a culture shift within less than 12 months at Turf Moor. As the Clarets look to make the mark on the Premier League, you can’t help but think they are being a touch naïve. Playing expansive and attacking football has not worked well in the long term for newly promoted teams – just ask Blackpool.
Collecting the prize 🥇 pic.twitter.com/5WXXmfMciI
— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) May 8, 2024
The End of the Road for Premier League Stalwarts
The two sides rounding off the top five are Everton and Wolves, teams we are now well accustomed to seeing in the Premier League. Incredibly, no team in English football has spent longer in the first division than Everton. With 120 top-flight campaigns to their name, it would certainly come as a shock to lose the Toffees. Things have not started well at Goodison Park, but this is Sean Dyche we’re talking about, a manager who has made a career out of surviving.
Wolves have been somewhat of an anomaly. Since their Championship triumph in 2018, they have finished in the Premier League top 10 on three occasions, avoiding relegation comfortably in the other two seasons. But things are looking relatively bleak at Molineux. Gary O’Neil has had to part ways with two of his best players Matheus Nunes and Ruben Neves, and although there were promising signs in their narrow defeat at Old Trafford, it’s tough to see how they can compete across 38 games.
The Premier League season is a long one, and a lot can change between now and May. However, there is no doubt that the race for survival will be just as entertaining as the race for the title.
