Queens Park Rangers
Rob Green, Leroy Fer, and Charlie Austin
Green and Fer have popped up with some important performances this season, but they look to be easily replaceable.
Austin on the other hand is one of the in form strikers in the Premier League at the moment, and his 15 league goals in an underperforming QPR side just highlights how fantastic he has been.
It’s hard to see the London side winning more than a handful of games without him, and they surely would have been relegated before now if Austin was absent.
Southampton
Toby Alderweireld, Ryan Bertrand, and Morgan Schneiderlin
Ronald Koeman has really managed to get the best out of the Saints this season, despite many tipping them for relegation after a mass exodus last summer.
The South Coast club arguably haven’t had standout players this season, as the entire team have been performing out of their skins. Koeman could still call on the likes of Nathaniel Clyne, Dusan Tadic, Sadio Mane, Graziano Pelle, and Fraser Forster (prior to his unfortunate injury) if these three were missing, so it’s hard to see them struggling.
The only issue they might have is that their squad depth isn’t the greatest, so missing any of their starting XI would be a blow.
Stoke
Asmir Begovic, Ryan Shawcross, and Steven N’Zonzi
Stoke haven’t been as defensively solid as they have been in the past, but when they have kept their opponents out it has been down to these three.
They aren’t known for their goalscoring prowess, so removing the defensive backbone of the team would probably prove disastrous.
Sunderland
John O’Shea, Lee Cattermole, and Seb Larsson
The Black Cats have been shocking this season, and are lucky to not already be in the relegation zone.
None of these three have been particularly decent, so without them they probably wouldn’t be doing much worse.