Premier League relegation picture: Who is going down?

The battle for Premier League survival continued across the weekend with Norwich, Leeds, Everton and Brentford all dropping points – but which teams are best placed to avoid the drop?

Only eight points separate the seven sides at the bottom of the table. An upturn in results for Newcastle, including victory in a six-pointer against Brentford, has seen the Bees, Everton and Leeds dragged into the relegation scrap.

Brentford have picked up just one point from their last eight games following the 2-0 loss to Newcastle – who have won four of their last five games – while Leeds sacked Marcelo Bielsa in the wake of the 4-0 loss at home to Spurs.

Leeds are in a precarious position in 16th with the second-worst goal difference in the division (-31), and will find themselves in the relegation zone if Everton and Burnley – the teams immediately below them – pick up points from their games in hand.

Everton are a point behind Leeds and a point above 18th-placed Burnley after the 1-0 loss to Manchester City where a controversial decision not to award Everton a penalty late on for a possible handball by Rodri, helped ensure the away side took all three points.

Burnley have taken seven points from their last three games after following up impressive wins against Brighton and Tottenham with a 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace.

Watford also picked up a point at the weekend, keeping a clean sheet in a hard-fought goalless draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford, moving them to within three points of safety.

Speaking on Friday Night Football following Southampton’s 2-0 win over Norwich, Jamie Carragher – when asked if he thinks Dean Smith’s Canaries have a chance of staying up – said: “No, I don’t think so. It’s not just the points gap, it’s the actual quality of the team and the number of games they have already played as well. If you look at the goal difference as well, there’s absolutely nothing going for Norwich.

“Most people thought Norwich would go down at the start of the season and if you look at the next seven games, they are huge games.

“They’ve got Brentford and Leeds, who are in and around them, but I actually think Brentford and Leeds are better teams than Norwich. Those two sides will be looking at the Norwich fixture, thinking that’s a game we can win. But you’d think Norwich would have to get four points out of the Brentford and Leeds games, and then there are tougher assignments in Chelsea and Manchester United not too far away.

“So, I think it is going to be really difficult for them. The disappointing thing against Southampton was they weren’t competitive enough. Most people wouldn’t expect them to come to St Mary’s and win, but it was just too easy for Southampton. It was like a training game.

Fellow pundit Gary Neville added: “I think Brentford and Leeds are in a weaker position at this moment in time than Burnley and Newcastle, in terms of their form. I would be really worried about Leeds in terms of the goals they are conceding. They look flimsy and they have big players missing.

“I can’t say I’ve consigned Norwich to relegation after that defeat to Southampton, but that was a really difficult performance to watch because you are thinking there is going to be some sort of response after the Liverpool and Man City games. This was the game they were going to come back into a decent run.

“I’m not saying they should come here and beat Southampton because Saints are on a good run, but I would have expected them to really cause a problem. It was 1-0 for a very long time but I never felt they caused Southampton any sort of danger, and that’s a poor place to be.

“So, they’ve got Brentford and Leeds next. We’ll probably know after those games whether they stand a chance of staying up at all, but I do feel like they are in massive trouble. That was a bad one for them because we saw the faces of those fans at the end of the game and there is nothing there. They look a bit vacant and there is nothing to hang onto out of the performance against Southampton.”

Sue Smith, meanwhile, says there is no doubt that Brentford are now in the thick of the battle to avoid the dreaded drop.

“They are in a relegation scrap,” Smith told The Football Show

“They are dropping down the table, and I think that comes after such a promising start where they picked up some good results with some good performances at the beginning of the season – we were all impressed by the intensity and the energy.

“But I think the real positive is having Christian Eriksen, and what he is going to bring on the field and off the field, that real feel-good factor when you know you have a real world-class player in your side that can just potentially win a game for you. That is a real positive for Brentford and so you just wonder if that might lift them and whether that might give them the boost that they really need.”

Here, we take a look at the state of play, odds and key fixtures as the relegation picture hots up…

Newcastle

Position:14th
Games played: 25
Points: 25
Current form: DWWWDW
Next fixture: Brighton (h)
Relegation Sky Bet odds: 8/1

Key fixtures to note: Mar 17: Everton (a), April 23: Norwich (a), May 22: Burnley (a).

Brentford

Position: 15th
Games played: 27
Points: 24
Current form: LLLDLL
Next fixture: Norwich (a)
Relegation Sky Bet odds: 15/8

Key fixtures to note: Mar 5: Norwich (a), Mar 12: Burnley (h), April 16: Watford (a), May 15: Everton (a), May 22: Leeds (h).

Leeds

Position: 16th
Games played: 26
Points: 23
Current form: WLDLLL
Next fixture: Leicester (a)
Relegation Sky Bet odds: 13/8

Key fixtures to note: Mar 13: Norwich (h), April 9: Watford (a), April 16: Chelsea (h), May 22: Brentford (a).

Everton

Position: 17th
Games played: 24
Points: 22
Current form: LLLWLL
Next fixture: Tottenham(a)
Relegation Sky Bet odds: 9/2

Key fixtures to note: Mar 7: Tottenham (a), Mar 17: Newcastle (h), Mar 20: Watford (a), April 23: Liverpool (a), April 30: Chelsea (h), May 15: Brentford (h).

Burnley

Position: 18th
Games played: 24
Points: 21
Next fixture: Leicester (h)
Current form: DDDWWD
Relegation Sky Bet odds: 7/4

Key fixtures to note: Mar 12: Brentford (a), April 9: Norwich (a), April 30: Watford (a), May 22: Newcastle (h).

Watford

Position: 19th
Games played: 26
Points: 19
Next fixture: Arsenal(h)
Current form: DLDLWL
Relegation Sky Bet odds: 2/9

Key fixtures to note: Mar 20: Everton (h), April 9: Leeds (h), April 16: Brentford (h), April 30: Burnley (h).

Norwich

Position: 20th
Games played: 26
Points: 17
Current form: WWDLLL
Next fixture: Brentford (h)
Relegation Sky Bet odds: 1/16

Key fixtures to note: Mar 5: Brentford (h); Mar 13: Leeds (a), April 9: Burnley (h), April 23: Newcastle (h).

Watch the race for Premier League survival unfold live on Sky Sports