Relegation remains the defining threat for clubs near the foot of the Premier League table. At season end the three teams finishing 18th, 19th and 20th are relegated to the Championship. The basic rule is simple: the three clubs with the fewest points go down.<\/p>\n
If teams finish level on points, goal difference decides who drops, calculated by subtracting goals conceded from goals scored. If points and goal difference are identical, the team with the higher goals scored total takes the higher position. If still level, head-to-head records from the season are used, followed by disciplinary records and finally alphabetical order.<\/p>\n
Promotion from the Championship replaces the three relegated clubs. The first- and second-place finishers earn automatic promotion, while the third spot is decided through the Championship playoffs.<\/p>\n
Current form and the table suggest clear danger. Wolverhampton Wanderers are all but certain to be relegated this season. Despite a slight upturn in form after Christmas, it appears too little, too late; the club could theoretically still challenge the worst-ever points total in Premier League history, set at 11 by Derby County in 2007\u201308. Burnley also look destined for the drop, having not won a single game since October.<\/p>\n
West Ham United sit in the third relegation position but have shown slow signs of improvement under Nuno Esp\u00edrito Santo. On paper, the Hammers have enough quality to survive, but they still need to close the gap with Nottingham Forest and Leeds United.<\/p>\n
Crystal Palace, decimated in both transfer windows, alongside Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton & Hove Albion, hover nearer the danger area though they are probably unlikely to go down.<\/p>\n
Table (selected positions) as of 08-02-26:
\n16. Leeds United \u2014 Played 25, Points 29, Goal Difference -9
\n17. Nottingham Forest \u2014 Played 25, Points 26, Goal Difference -13
\n18. West Ham United \u2014 Played 25, Points 23, Goal Difference -17
\n19. Burnley \u2014 Played 25, Points 15, Goal Difference -24
\n20. Wolverhampton Wanderers \u2014 Played 25, Points 8, Goal Difference -32<\/p>\n
Relegation carries a significant financial hit. Clubs typically lose around two-thirds of their revenue after the drop. The Premier League provides parachute payments to cushion the blow. Even those finishing bottom still earn substantial sums from broadcasting and other payments: in 2024\u201325 Leicester City, Ipswich Town, and Southampton took home \u00a3116.9 million, \u00a3111.1 million and \u00a3109.2 million respectively.<\/p>\n
*Premier League table correct as of 08-02-26.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
How Premier League relegation works and which clubs are closest to the drop in 2025\/26. Live update.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6640,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1249,969,783],"tags":[1458,1457,1459],"class_list":["post-6641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-championship","category-premier-league","category-wolverhampton-wanderers","tag-championship","tag-parachute-payments","tag-relegation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}