English Premier League Relegation Betting

Who Will Go Down This Season

With a new English Premier League season now underway, the talk is once again dominated by who will be crowned champions at the end of the campaign and with both Chelsea and Manchester United recruiting well over the summer, they will look to challenge Manchester City.

However, the Premier League is always a competition with a number of subplots and one of those is the battle to avoid relegation, as a handful of clubs look to avoid a trapdoor which opens to the EFL Championship.

A battle which takes place over the course of nine arduous months and although there is obvious glory in winning the competition outright, there is always obvious relief for those who manage to steer clear of the drop zone.

Relegation Explained: How English Premier League Relegation Works

For those who do not know how the Premier League works, it is a competition which sees 20 teams enter each season and unlike Major League Soccer which acts as its North American cousin, there is fluid movement between one tier and another.

Movement that comes in the form of the English football pyramid and with the Premier League sitting at the top of such a structure, it is the EFL Championship which acts as the nation’s second tier competition.

This means the two competitions are intertwined through the concepts of relegation to the Championship and promotion to the Premier League and at the end of each season, three teams from each will switch leagues for the following campaigns.

Who Suffers Relegation?

For those who are unfortunate enough to suffer the ignominy of relegation, it means a rather poor season or perhaps one where luck has evaded them throughout the campaign and for three worst teams in the division, they will subsequently suffer an exit from the Premier League itself.

With 20 teams comprising the makeup of the division, it means the trio of outfits that finish 18^th to 20^th in any given season, must leave their Premier League members cards at the door and prepare for life within the confines of the Championship.

How The League Works

In terms of how the league works, it is a standard round-robin format, and this means each of the 20 teams will play each twice a season – with one fixture taking place at home and the other taking place on the road.

For example, Liverpool and Manchester United is a staple of any Premier League season and these two teams will contest one of the fixtures at Anfield, while the other clash between these giants will take place at Old Trafford.

Copy that formula over to the other 19 teams in the division that either team will have to face twice over between the months of August and May of the following year, and it means 38 gameweeks are locked into the Premier League schedule.

Promotion from the Championship

Of course, what goes down will also see something else come up and although it will be despair for three clubs at the end of each season, an equal amount of joy will be felt for those who are fortunate to earn promotion.

The three relegated clubs are replaced by the winner and the runner-up of the Championship and this means there is also one remaining berth left to fill – one that comes courtesy of the end of season play-offs.

The play-offs sees the next four clubs (those who finish 3^rd through to 6^th in the final league table) contest in a semi-final over two legs (3^rd plays 6^th and 4^th plays 5^th) and the winners of these ties, meet at Wembley in a one-legged winner take all affair, which earns the promotion to the top-flight.

Factors to Consider for EPL Relegation Betting

While for those who want to place a wager on who will be the unfortunate trio of clubs at the end of this season, there are a number of factors to take into consideration and with it being such a competitive competition, it certainly pays to do your research beforehand.

New Arrivals

After achieving promotion from the Championship, there is always a sense that the hard work then begins the day after and for those clubs who get the recruitment done sensibly and early, they give themselves the best possible chance of staying in their new surroundings.

However, poor transfer strategy can make life a lot harder for those who obtain a lift up the league ladder and if a lack of acumen is on show over the course of the summer, the chances of a swift relegation will only increase.

Experience Is The Key

For those who arrive in the cut and thrust of the Premier League, former experience is a vital component towards any chance of survival and for those who are yet to cut their teeth at this level, it is often considered a baptism of fire.

Of course, this is not just the case for managers who have reached the promised land, the same could be said for those who have come from sunnier climbs and may be new to such an unforgiving league.

Therefore, those seasoned veterans of the competition are perceived to have an advantage over their newfound counterparts and although experience at this level is vital, it is not a guarantee of securing safety either.

Tips For The Drop

In terms of the teams who look likely to be consigned for relegation at the end of the season, the smart money will be on Norwich and even though they won the previous edition of the Championship, there is a sense that their squad is not quite up to scratch.

While another team who were celebrating back in May are Watford and with their usual propensity of sacking managers across the course of the campaign, the threat of instability may ultimately prove to be their undoing.