Feature

How will six of last season's strugglers fare in 2023/24?

6 Aug 2023

Adrian Clarke analysis how these sides can avoid another fight against relegation

Adrian Clarke analyses how six teams who successfully fought relegation in 2022/23 can avoid a similar battle this season.

Position Pos	Club	Played Pl	GD	Points Pts
11	Crystal Palace CRY	38	-9	45
12	Chelsea CHE	38	-9	44
13	Wolves WOL	38	-27	41
14	West Ham WHU	38	-13	40
15	Bournemouth BOU	38	-34	39
16	Nott'm Forest NFO	38	-30	38
17	Everton EVE	38	-23	36
18	Leicester LEI	38	-17	34
19	Leeds LEE	38	-30	31
20	Southampton SOU	38	-37	25

Everton

To avoid a third consecutive nail-biting relegation battle, Everton will need significantly more punch in attack.

Across 19 edgy home matches at Goodison Park last season they scored more than one goal in a contest only once. Putting that into context, relegated Leicester City and Leeds United each netted two or more goals on eight different occasions at home.

With a string of impressive midfield displays from players including Alex Iwobi, Dwight McNeil, Amadou Onana, Idrissa Gueye and Abdoulaye Doucoure going largely unrewarded, Sean Dyche has little option but to try and strengthen his forward line in the coming weeks.

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Nottingham Forest

Steve Cooper’s men have got to toughen up on the road. Tactically, Forest set up in a style that should have seen them hurt teams on the break away from home – but that didn’t happen. Too often a soft touch out of possession, the two-time European champions shipped a league-high average of 2.3 goals per match on their travels.

You won’t win many away matches with that kind of record (they claimed only one) which heaped pressure on Forest to over-perform on their own patch. Claiming victories in eight of their 19 matches at the City Ground, they somehow got away with it.

To avoid another relegation scrap. Cooper and his players must find a formula that makes them both more resilient and dangerous when they aren’t playing in front of their own raucous home support.

AFC Bournemouth

Andoni Iraola is determined to make Bournemouth a more attack-minded side who are tougher to play against in 2023/24.

They will press with far more aggression under Iraola, who also encourages his central defenders to travel with the ball or make underlapping runs inside the opposition half. Last season the Cherries sat off a little too much, failing to score in 47 per cent of their Premier League fixtures. That cannot be repeated.

To make a leap forward Bournemouth must also defend set-pieces with greater authority. Had they not leaked a league-high 21 set-play goals, the south-coast side would have been closer to mid-table.

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West Ham United

Filling a Declan Rice-sized hole in midfield will be a priority for David Moyes. The England international contributed greatly to West Ham United’s solid defensive record, and this could force a slight change in their tactical approach.

Without him, and on the back of a flat campaign that saw their goals and points tallies drop by 18 and 16 respectively, the Hammers may adopt a more positive, front-footed approach.

Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta finished last season in superb form and their output helped the Hammers win the UEFA Europa Conference League, their first trophy in 43 years.

But for much of the season they were starved of service within a side who averaged only 41.4 per cent of possession.

To avert a second season of concern we could see West Ham seek a greater share of the ball and play with more freedom going forward.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Julen Lopetegui’s top-level expertise helped to steer Wolves away from the bottom three from December onwards, but unless they sharpen up on their creativity and finishing, they could be in trouble again this season.

Fashioning fewer big chances than any other team and boasting the worst chance conversion rate in the division, Wolves only scored 31 goals in 38 matches. Their saving grace was a sound tactical structure and well organised defensive shape, but if cracks appear at the back, things could get sticky.

With transfer funds reportedly tight this summer, Lopetegui and his coaching staff must work overtime to improve the quality of their attacking play.

Crystal Palace

The Eagles really need to start matches far better in 2023/24. Slow out of the blocks, they scored the opening goal in just 10 of 38 league matches. They played catch up very well, winning seven times from 1-0 down, but Roy Hodgson could do without the stress of multiple comebacks.

There’s also no Wilfried Zaha, and no obvious first choice centre-forward in the Palace squad either, which may be a concern. Taking over a side that registered the second lowest xG in open play last season, you suspect Hodgson will be pondering plenty in an attacking sense ahead of the new campaign.