Fulham and West Brom Now Odds-On Premier League Relegation Favorites; Aston Villa Now Just 9-1 Odds
- The English Premier League is already four matchdays in which means people are already placing their early picks for the relegation battle
- While starting the season the third-best favorites to drop down to the Championship, Aston Villa have now improved their chances of survival and have odds of +900
- Currently, the worst three teams favored to go down are Fulham, West Brom and Burnley
Relegation is one of the most talked-about aspects of the English Premier League. At the end of every season, the three teams with the worst Premier League point tally are sent down to the next highest division, the English Championship. After four solid weeks of Premier League action, sportsbooks already have favorites for who will be sent down this year and the EPL relegation odds have been quickly adjusting. Presently, it is not hard to choose as three teams are stuck with zero points, Fulham, Sheffield United and Burnley.
While it looks as though these three teams are struggling, it does not correlate to them automatically being a relegation favorite. Sheffield United, for example, have played Wolves, Aston Villa, Leeds and Arsenal in their first four games. The point is that these teams all have different situations and it is very early in the season to call who will be getting sent down.
2020/21 Premier League Relegation Odds
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Fulham | -335 |
| West Brom | -190 |
| Burnley | +130 |
| Sheffield United | +175 |
| Newcastle | +350 |
| Brighton | +500 |
| Crystal Palace | +550 |
| West Ham | +600 |
| Aston Villa | +900 |
| Southampton | +1100 |
Odds taken Oct 6 at DraftKings
Fulham Are a Lost Cause
Fulham are the worst team in the Premier League and it really is not close. Even after signing Ruben Loftus-Cheek from Chelsea, their roster is depleted of the star talent needed to compete at this level. They are a truly classic case of a team that goes back and forth between the Premier League too quickly. Additionally, they barely even made it to the Premier League last season. After finishing fourth in the Championship, it took them 30 minutes of extra time to beat Brentford in the playoff final.
Chelsea and Fulham have agreed a loan deal for Ruben Loftus-Cheek. #DeadlineDay
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) October 5, 2020
This is still Scott Parker’s first managerial job and he might not be fully up to snuff. Secondly, their defense still is not good enough, and they cannot rely on Aleksander Mitrovic to bail them out whenever they lose the game early. It is way to early to guarantee anything. However, Fulham are fairly the odds on favorite to be relegation from the Premier League this year.
Sheffield and Aston Villa Should Not Be Your Relegation Picks
Despite Sheffield United not gaining a point and Aston Villa being one of the favorites to go down at the start of the season, both of these sides will avoid getting relegated. Sheffield have lacked offense at the start of the season. But, with the signing of Liverpool youngster Rhian Brewster, they are well back on their way up the table. Furthermore, their strong suit is defense and that has still been great after only allowing six in four games to tough opposition.
Aston Villa on the other hand, look like world-beaters. After thrashing Liverpool, all the talk in the Premier League is about Jack Grealish, Ollie Watkins and how far this team can go, as it should be. Which brings up the question, who is next to get relegated? My answer is Burnley and West Brom.
The days of going to Turf Moor and getting beat off the park are done, and Sean Dyche looks to finally be hitting some rocks in the road with the Clarets. Likewise, West Brom’s defense is the worst in the Premier League, giving up 3.25 goals per game so far this season. While they managed a draw with Chelsea, that can be taken with a grain of salt given how much change that club has undergone recently.
Best Bet
Overall, my three picks for relegation in the Premier League are Fulham, Burnley and West Brom from worst to best, in that order. Fulham are a pretty easy choice, but the other two, not so much. Personally, I just believe Chris Wilder is too good of a manager not to lead Sheffield out of disaster, and Brighton have too many good pieces to not see out some Premier League results this year. Lastly, I still think it will be a close finish, but expect these three clubs to see themselves down a league come May.
My Picks: Fulham (-335), Burnley (+130), West Brom (-190)
Josh Ricker is a freelance sports journalist, currently attending the University of Southern Maine (Bachelor of Science in Sports Management and Marketing). He has recently interned with the AA Portland Sea Dogs, and his work has been featured on Fansided, as well as now here on SBD.
