Football news - Premier League predictions: Who will be relegated?

With the Premier League set to return on June 17, we decided to gaze deep into the future and predict the season’s run-in.

Just four points separate Brighton in 15th and Aston Villa in 19th ahead of the final nine games, with bottom side Norwich City six points adrift from safety.

But there is still hope for the Canaries according to Marcus Foley, who claims they could yet evoke memories of Leicester City’s survival in 2015. Sadly, for Norwich anyway, he was alone in having faith.

Listen to the full episode now on all major podcast platform providers, featuring the spicier predictions of who will finish in the top six, or dive into our arguments surrounding the relegation places in written form below.

At the bottom, Norwich look in deep trouble. However, performance-wise, they have held their own. Are they flawed? Yes. But do they have the potential to pick up points in a run of three relegation six-pointers against Brighton, Watford and West Ham? Yes. It is not a forgone conclusion that the Canaries are done. Their form is patchy, not terrible.

On the subject of terrible form, Brighton last won a Premier League game in 2019. They look solid candidates to go down, as do Bournemouth, who have been on a downward trajectory since their ninth-place finish during the 2016-17 season.

Watford's form has been nowhere near relegation form since Nigel Pearson took over so rule them out and, if Norwich stay up, that leaves a scrap between Aston Villa and West Ham for the last spot that might be decided when the pair meet. A tough one for David Cameron who will be raging and delighted when one of the two go down. Which will probably be Villa... just.

Sorry Norwich fans, you’re gone. But who will fill the other two spaces?

Brighton haven’t won in any competition since December and therefore won’t get any points from their next three games against Arsenal, Leicester City and Manchester United. They seem destined to slip into the bottom three, especially with Liverpool and Manchester City fixtures to follow too.

And then there’s Bournemouth, who have been punching above their weight for some time and are perilously close to the drop zone. After a kinder start, they soon face a four-game stretch against Manchester United, Tottenham, Leicester City and Manchester City. So if they don’t start quickly, it’s hard to see them swerving relegation. It’s a close call with Aston Villa, but Jack Grealish is the best player in the bottom six and his quality could prove the difference.

There's no way Norwich City will get themselves out of this relegation pickle, much as I would like them to. I predict Aston Villa will flatter to deceive, and make a spirited attempt to stay up, before getting relegated on the final day of the season.

The final spot could be any one of the other four teams who have yet to reach the 30-point benchmark. I think Southampton have done enough already to be safe, which is just as well as they have a tough run-in. I'll plump for Watford based on nothing other than my formative years as a Luton Town fan - apologies.

I really like Norwich but they have far too much to do. Aston Villa have less to do but they find more inventive ways of beating themselves, which is a problem that I feel also haunts West Ham and Bournemouth. Watford will continue their good form under Nigel Pearson while Brighton are too good defensively to go down. I’m plumping for the wheels coming off West Ham but Bournemouth are in big danger as well.