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After 10 Premier League games played for all sides, just over a quarter of the way through the season, now feels like an appropriate time to look around and properly analyse Premier League sides. Though form so far may not be representative of how the rest of the season could pan out- for example, Spurs were 7th and Crystal Palace were 17th- it is often a safe indication of where or whereabouts most sides will finish.
While sides like Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and (shockingly) Bournemouth battle it out at the top end of the table, arguably the more engaging question in the Premier League so far is with the relegation battle, with established sides in recent seasons like Wolves, West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Fulham floating around the dreaded last three positions.
Firstly, it’s worth evaluating who should be safe from a drop down to the English second tier next May.
Fulham
A comfortable victory over Wolves on Saturday afternoon at Craven Cottage, with goals from Ryan Sessegnon (above), Harry Wilson and a Yerson Mosquera own goal, saw Fulham rise three places to 14th as they look to get their season on track.
It was just the third win of the season for Marco Silva’s side, which means on top of two draws and five losses, leaves them on 11 points, four points worse after the same stage last season, where they found themselves 9th.
Such a regression from last year’s start could be put down to their lack of summer transfer business, signing just four players, three of which arriving on deadline day. Having a more settled squad with more fresh faces means Fulham find themselves as low as they are, forcing them into the relegation conversation.
Despite their below-par start to the season, their most recent win against Wolves could be the turning point in the season for the Cottagers, as the quality in their side may begin to show more as it did so emphatically last weekend.
This is a side waiting for some of its best to return also, with star defenders Joachim Andersen and Antonee Robinson yet to return to the side, alongside striker Rodrigo Muniz. Once these key players have got back to their best, the East London side should comfortably finish in mid table away from any threat of relegation.
Nottingham Forest
At time of writing, Forest sit second bottom of the table, with just one win in 10 and four points from safety. Of all the sides currently in the relegation zone- alongside Wolves and West Ham- it’s Forest that should have the most reason to be optimistic about getting out of it.
The season started on a bad tone with Nuno Espirito Santo, who miraculously led the club from a 17th place finish on 2024 to an astonishing 7th in 2025, publicly announcing the breakdown in communication with Forest’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis. After just three Premier League games, he was sacked on September 9th
Then came the horrific Ange Postecoglou experiment that lasted just 39 days, with the Australian tactician unable to pick up a win during his time with the club. His replacement is former Burnley and Everton manager Sean Dyche, who joins the club on a two year deal.
Compared to the other two figures who have led Forest so far this season, Dyche’s style is less complex tactically, which is unlikely to get them back in the European places but will most certainly steady the ship in the East Midlands, perhaps enough to avoid relegation.
With so many new signings in the summer, with the likes of Omari Hutchinson, Dan Ndoye and Aranud Kalimuendo to name just a few of the 13 that arrived at the City Ground this summer, a less experimental style of football may help settle the club on the pitch to drag them out of the relegation zone, regardless of how their European campaign progresses.
West Ham United
Similar to Forest, a managerial shake-up (in a way, catalysed by Forest doing the same thing) can give West Ham reason to be optimistic about turning their season around. It’s been a pretty appalling start for the Hammers, who sit just above Forest in 18th, taking just seven points so far this season.
Pin-pointing West Ham’s problems onto one factor is difficult, especially as all the problems at the club are well founded and genuine. Fan protests have seen anger addressed at the current ownership for what the London Stadium has become- a soulless stadium with a poor view of the pitch- and at the poor transfer business in recent windows, with signings like Mads Hermansen, Nicklas Füllkrug and Max Kilman struggling to impress.
Nevertheless, there is a still enough individual quality in this West Ham side, under the steady guidance of Nuno, to ensure the Hammers avoid the drop for the first time since 2011. Captain Jarrod Bowen is a constant source of goals and creativity, hitting 20+ goals and assists in his last two seasons, notching 21 in his last campaign as his side finished 13h.
West Ham will have to tighten up hugely at the back, conceding the second most amount of goals so far in the Premier League, just one less than bottom side Wolves. They’ll also have to find a reliable midfield, with Tomáš Souček and James Ward-Prowse looking leggy in most games they’ve played together- perhaps expected, given their combined age of 61.
If Nuno can make his system click, with the likes of the aforementioned Bowen, Lucas Paqueta, Crysencio Summerville and Aaron Wan-Bissaka to help turn their fortunes around, it seems unlikely his side will have to deal with relegation.
Who will go down?
With those likely to be safe evaluated, three teams will have to go down to the second tier, with sides like Coventry, Middlesborough and Ipswich likely to replace them. Firstly, which side is most likely to go down.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
After eight seasons in the Premier League, of which in their last three they’ve flirted with relegation, it seems this year after selling another of their top players for big money- this summer, it was Matheus Cunha to Manchester United- Wolves look destined to return to the Championship for the first time since 2018.
Perhaps their ability to consistently sell their best players and find replacements good enough to keep them up was great luck. In 2023, their midfield was shipped on, with Matheus Nunes and captain Ruben Neves leaving for Manchester City and Al Hilal respectively, as well as selling experienced fan favourites Conor Coady and Raul Jimenez. Santi Bueno replaced Coady, Bellgarde and Boubacar Traore replaced the midfielders and Matheus Cunha replaced Jimenez. Other than Cunha, none have made a significant impact at Molineux yet.
That season, Cunha and Neto led the front line with Max Kilman leading the backline to steer Wolves to 14th. After such, Neto and Kilman both left, with Emmanuel Agbadou (pictured above) replacing Kilman and Jorgen Strand Larsen being loaned in to help with the frontline depth. Wolves slipped lower to 16th.
This summer, once again more star players are let go, with Cunha and Rayan Aït-Nouri departing for Manchester, with the later choosing the blue half. He was replaced by David Mølle Wolfe, who has played just 151 Premier League minutes so far after looking out of depth. Cunha’s replacements, 28-year-old Jhon Arias and 21-year-old Fer Lopez, have barely had a game, and have struggled to make any impact when they have been involved.
With all due respect to the West Midlands outfit, as a smaller club it’s always difficult to keep hold of young talent when bigger clubs come calling, which led to the departures of most of the names above (Cunha, Neto, Aït-Nouri). Clubs like Brighton, Brentford and Crystal Palace have shown that even if they do have to sell their best layers, they can be replaced well to keep them competitive. This is something Wolves have consistently got this wrong, which leaves them in the situation they are in today- bottom of the league, winless in 10, and eight points from safety already.
A severe lack of quality and a toxic atmosphere at the club means regardless of who Wolves appoint as Vitor Pereira’s replacement, it seems unlikely they’ll be able to get out of the drop zone.
Burnley
Scott Parker’s side can take a lot of encouragement from their start to the season- they’ve won important games against the sides they were promoted with, and picked up a huge win at Molineux after being pegged back to 2-2 before snatching a 97th minute winner. They were unfortunate not to get more out of their games against Manchester United, Liverpool and Forest, of which they only walked away with a point despite playing well- so much so, it took United and Liverpool until the 97th and 95th minutes to find a winner.
Last season, the Clarets prided themselves on their defence, breaking the record for least goals conceded in a Championship season, conceding just 16 to smash Watford’s record of 30. They also broke the record for most clean sheets, keeping 30 with James Trafford in goal across 46 games.
This season, they’ve been a lot more leaky, conceding 19 goals in their opening 10. Though this is underperforming their expected goals conceded on 20.7, it’s still a damning stat despite the summer investments of Premier League champion Kyle Walker, Quilindschy Hartman and Axel Tuanzebe, who was supposed to replace CJ Egan-Riley after he departed for Marseille.
If Burnley can find more defensive rigour, it’s unlikely they’ll go down with a whimper as they did in 2024, after going winless in their last four games and finishing eight points adrift from Forest, who stayed up on 32 points that year. It won’t just be Burnley’s defence who will have to step up to, with players like Jaidon Anthony, Lyle Foster and Zian Flemming needing to up their level after being prolific in the Championship but so far looking below-par in the top flight.
If not, despite Scott Parker’s credentials, it may be the case the individual quality and Premier League experience will be the decisive factor in this year’s relegation battle. While sides like Forest and West Ham can call upon Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood or Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta, it’s unlikely players like Jaidon Anthony and Lyle Foster will have the quality and experience to save the Lancashire side from a swift return to the Championship.
Leeds United
Similarly to Burnley, though they’ve taken one more point than them so far, Leeds can be happy with their start to the season. They’ve picked up important wins against Everton, Leeds and West Ham, proving how Elland Road can be a key part to their campaign by making it a fortress in close games. They’ve also picked up good points at home against Newcastle and Bournemouth, further proving the point above.
Defensively, it’s been disappointing for the Yorkshire side this season, muddied by a decimation at the hands of champions elect Arsenal. They’ve conceded 17 goals this season, despite having an expected goals conceded of 12. On paper, their defence does look a lot weaker than most around them, with most lacking Premier League or experience or showing in the past they’re not Premier League level, like Pascal Struijk and Jayden Bogle.
The biggest concern for Leeds has to be their frontline though. The frontman options were revamped this summer, with Patrick Bamford and Mateo Joseph departing the club. Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Lucas Nmecha and Noah Okafor were brought in to give Joel Piroe some competition, but so far none of the four have managed to impress, though Okafor has shown glimpses after being moved to the left-hand side.
Their midfield has a strong core, with Ao Tanaka forming an impressive partnership with German workhorse Anton Stach. The 26-year-old has been the highlight of their season so far, fitting into the Premier League seamlessly and becoming the beating heart of all Leeds are doing well. Defensively, he averages an impressive 1.44 interceptions per 90 and 1.73 aerials won per 90- maybe to be expected given his 6″3 frame.
Leeds will have to use his quality to help fuel the frontlines it seems, but with how poor they’ve been so far- not for a lack of effort- it seems unlikely that at the crunch time of the season, they won’t be able to find the goals needed to stay up. Dominic Calvert-Lewin has scored just 12 Premier League goals in his last three seasons: Nmecha eight in his last three; Okafor 14 in his last three, splitting his services between Napoli, AC Milan and RB Salzburg. Such a lack of clinicality and ability to stay fit may well send Leeds to their second relegation in four seasons.
