When could the remaining relegation places be decided?

Southampton became the first team to be relegated from the 2024/25 Premier League, when they lost 3-1 at Tottenham Hotspur last Sunday.

Saints, who parted company with manager Ivan Juric the following day, will return to the Championship after one season in the top flight.

Here, we look at who else may join them - and when. 

Relegation battle

Position Pos	Club	Played Pl	GD	Points Pts
15	Spurs TOT	31	+13	37
16	West Ham WHU	31	-17	35
17	Wolves WOL	31	-16	32
18	Ipswich IPS	31	-34	20
19	Leicester LEI	32	-45	18
20	Southampton SOU	32	-54	10

View More

What is relegation?

The teams who finish the season in the bottom three places of the Premier League table - 18th, 19th and 20th - drop down to the Championship, the second tier of English football.

Those teams are replaced in the Premier League for the following season by three promoted clubs - the sides who finish first and second in the Championship, plus the winners of that division's end-of-season playoffs.

What is the state of play?

Southampton are already relegated, because they are 22 points behind 17th-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers and have only 21 points available to play for. Even if they win all of their seven remaining matches, they cannot catch Wolves, and are therefore guaranteed to finish in the bottom three. 

Leicester City are 19th and are the team most in danger of joining Southampton, having earned only three points in total from their last 16 games. In Matchweek 31, they became the first team in English league history to lose eight successive home matches without scoring a goal.

Leicester could seal their relegation as early as Matchweek 33 on the weekend of 19-20 April.

The Foxes have 17 points, 15 fewer than Wolves, with only 21 points left to play for. If they lose at Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday (Matchweek 32) and Wolves beat Spurs the next day, they would be 18 points from safety with 18 left to play for.

Given that Leicester's goal difference of -45 is hugely inferior to Wolves' -16 and would only widen with wins for Brighton and Wolves, relegation would be all-but confirmed.  

But it would not be confirmed until the points gap between Leicester and the teams placed 17th or higher is bigger than the number of points still available to them.

That will happen in Matchweek 33 if Wolves avoid defeat at Manchester United. That would increase the gap to 16, with only 15 points left to play for after Matchweek 33.

Should the gap remain at 15 points or be reduced in the next two matches, Leicester next face Wolves in Matchweek 34, where in all likelihood victory will be needed for the Foxes to not be relgated at full-time.

When could Ipswich be relegated? 

Ipswich Town have collected three more points than Leicester, but their situation remains precarious.

The Tractor Boys are 12 points behind 17th place and if that gap grows to 16 points or more across the next two round of matches, they will be relegated as they will have only 15 points left to play for.

However, they can still reach 41 points, meaning they could technically still overtake Wolves, West Ham United, Everton, Spurs and Man Utd as things stand.

When could Wolves, West Ham and Everton confirm safety?

The maximum number of points achievable for the sides inside the bottom three is 41.

To be absolutely certain of avoiding relegation, Man Utd require four more points from the last 21 available, with Spurs just behind them in 14th place needing five.  

For Everton to be mathematically sure of being a Premier League club as they move into their new stadium, they need seven points from their remaining seven matches - the same number as West Ham, who are also on 35 points at present. Wolves are a maximum 10 points away from confirming another Premier League season.

All of those maximum points needed for each club will be reduced if Leicester and Ipswich drop points in the coming matches.

Relegation battle - remaining matches

Can Southampton avoid unwanted record?

While Saints’ relegation is confirmed, they still have something to play for.

They are trying to avoid the unwanted record for the lowest-ever points tally in a Premier League season.

The 2007/08 Derby team finished with 11 points - one point more than Championship-bound Saints have now.