CaughtOffside Predicts The Premier League’s Relegation Candidates

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The CaughtOffside team predicts who the Premier League’s bottom three will be.

Here is who the COS team think will be going down this term.

Adam Davies:

Burnley haven’t strengthened anywhere near enough and Championship players won’t keep them in the Premier League. West Bromwich Albion look decidedly ropey, and new manager Alan Irvine is a drastic change in direction from a board that has swung from the polarising philosophies of Steve Clarke to Pepe Mel, before attempting to bring in the 90s football specialist Tim Sherwood. Finally, it is easy to forget that after a wonderful escape from relegation in the last third of the season, Sunderland were previously having a woeful campaign. This season won’t be quite so enjoyable for Black Cats fans.

Tom Seymour:

West Bromwich Albion, Swansea City and Burnley. I think fellow promoted sides Leicester City and QPR have enough about them to survive, but the Clarets haven’t bought anyone of note and will struggle. Appointing Garry Monk as permanent boss was a poor decision in my opinion and will cost Swansea their top flight status, whilst Alan Irvine is similarly uninspiring at West Brom.

Glen Harrington:

Hull City, West Brom, QPR – It’s very unusual for all three promoted teams to go down, so in this case I’m expecting Leicester and Burnley to scrape survival. Hull will struggle to cope with the demands of European football, and with second season syndrome could be a surprise candidate for the drop. West Brom look close to turmoil with their lack of striking options and a manager inexperienced at this level. QPR, as before, are a team full of aging, former Premier League stars, and I expect them to be found out again, with Harry Redknapp calling it a day when their relegation is confirmed.

Mark Apostolou:

West Brom, Burnley and Swansea City.

West Brom were lucky to avoid the drop last season but won’t repeat the trick, Burnley will be this season’s whipping boys and Swansea City without Michu, Ben Davies, Michel Vorm, and perhaps even Wilfried Bony, won’t survive the campaign.

Robert Summerscales:

I don’t think Burnley or Leicester City have strengthened enough to compete with England’s elite and I can see them both swiftly returning to the Championship. QPR look better prepared and I think they will survive at the expense of West Bromwich Albion.

Steven Green:

Leicester, Burnley, and Hull. The two sides that came up will struggle because they’ve not strengthened properly. Hull will struggle because they barely managed to stay up last year, I don’t know why they’re being so highly rated this year. And if they go a distance in the Europa League they’ll be in trouble fairly early on. Throw West Brom on that pile too, they’re terrible.

David Power:

West Brom, Aston Villa and Leicester City.

Aston Villa have been poor for a few seasons, and their summer business has been totally uninspiring. In Alan Irvine, West Brom have a manager without any real top flight experience, and their likely starting XI will not fill anybody with confidence. I expect QPR to have a good start to the season under Harry Redknapp, buoyed by the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Glen Hoddle on the training pitch. It won’t last forever, but it’ll be enough to keep them up this season. In Sean Dyche, Burnley have a manager who will practically force his side to grind out results. One promoted side always goes down though, and this will be Leicester – playing decent football and winning a few admirers on their way to a 19th placed finish.

Mark Brus:

Of the three promoted sides, I’d say Burnley probably look the weakest and could go straight back down. However, I expect Leicester and QPR to survive, and can actually see Aston Villa finally going down this year. They continue to look weak after a poor few seasons. I don’t have high hopes for West Brom either and think they will be the third side set for the drop.

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