Starting with Brighton tonight (March 15), the next eight games are absolutely vital to deciding the outcome of the season. Tonight’s opponents and Sunday’s fixture against Arsenal are the only times in these eight games where they play teams above them in the league.
Following Arsenal they face Leicester, Leeds, Southampton, Everton, Wolves and West Ham in a stretch of games that must be approached like cup finals. If Patrick Vieira’s men come through unscathed they could ensure the rest of the season is comfortable, but if they continue to struggle, they will plummet down the table fast.
When the season took a break for the World Cup, Palace were well placed. They were not challenging for Europe, but nor were they battling relegation. They have since endured a winless run in 2023 and are staring a relegation scrap in the face.
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They have remained comfortable in the past few weeks because of their league position, which is still 12th, and the fact that the squad looks ‘too good to go down’.
This poses an interesting topic for debate. Is any team too good to be relegated? Let’s take a look at some recent examples.
The essence of a relegated team is that they are one of the three worst teams in the league, and as the famous line goes, the ‘league table doesn’t lie’.
Here are four teams from the last seven years who, for differing reasons, may think they were too good to go down:
2016-2017 – Sunderland
This may be a case of too big rather than too good. Sunderland were rooted to the bottom of the table, with a goal difference of -40, but this was their first relegation in ten years so it came as a surprise to some. A season later, they were relegated again among some off-field ownership turmoil.
Their squad contained Jordan Pickford, who is now England’s number one, as well as aging but quality defenders in Joleon Lescott and John O’Shea. A team that goes down is normally devoid of goals, but they had Adnan Januzaj on loan from Manchester United, Jermain Defoe and former Liverpool man Fabio Borini.
They also had a huge fanbase, attracting an average of 41,287 people to every home game at the Stadium of Light.
2019-2020 – Norwich City
The enigma of Norwich was in full effect in this season, once again they finished dead last in the league. They played good football, however, which made them a really good Championship team. They bounced straight back, which was a testament to the quality they had.
They did try to enter the season with an almost identical squad, led by homegrown youngsters Todd Cantwell, Jamal Lewis and Max Aarons and Finnish goal scorer Teemu Pukki.
They did secure a win over Manchester City and draws with Arsenal and Tottenham in the season, which showed they could compete at the top level. Their focus on playing good-looking football was probably central to their downfall, unfortunately.
2020-2021 – Sheffield United
Sheffield United were promoted the season before and under Chris Wilder they secured a brilliant ninth in their first season back. This was a place behind Arsenal and for much of the season, they were in European contention.
However, the season later they were relegated. This may have been to do with the impact of the pandemic, which meant they lost the Bramall Lane support which they had made a fortress in the season before.
They are in the mix for promotion again this season, sitting in the automatic places, so they may have another go at the Premier League soon.
2021-2022 – Burnley
Not only were Burnley very close to avoiding the drop, but they have shown this season in the Championship they are far too good to have gone down.
Many feared that in the same way as Sunderland did years before them, they would suffer double relegation. However, under Vincent Kompany they are dominating the Championship and are projected to finish on 100 points.
It was their sixth consecutive season in the top flight, but the Clarets look set to bounce straight back.
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