For the second time in league history, the three promoted sides will be relegated. And the underlying numbers paint a grim picture for the English pyramid
Luton Town’s defeat at West Ham and Burnley’s at Tottenham on Saturday mean that, barring something astonishing on the final weekend (a Luton win over Fulham and a Nottingham Forest defeat at Burnley with a goal-difference swing of 12), the three sides who came up last season will be the three teams who go down. For those who fear the gulf between Premier League and Championship is becoming impossible to bridge, that is a worrying sign.
The truth is that, but for Forest’s four-point deduction for breaches of the league’s Profit and Sustainability rules, it wouldn’t even have been close. The other interest at the bottom came from Everton, before their recent run of 13 points from five games. But they wouldn’t have been in the mix either had it not been for their own 10-point deduction, subsequently reduced to six. The feeling that if you had to have points deducted this was the season to do it has been proved accurate.
