The high-quality relegation battle more like a title race

The battle for Premier League survival is hotting up with Nottingham Forest, Tottenham and West Ham fighting for their lives. By Keifer MacDonald BBC Sport journalist It is proving to be one of the highest-quality fights for survival in Premier League history. It has been a game of who will blink first over the past couple of months with the three sides all in danger of finishing in the the third and final relegation place - Forest, Spurs and West Ham - having only lost one of their past nine Premier League games between them. The improved quality of the teams in and around the drop zone means for the first time since the 2015-16 season, a team will be relegated from the Premier League with 36 points or more. Forest have come good a little bit later on.

"And Spurs and West Ham - although they are the two in danger - one of them will go down with a lot more points than any team for quite a long time." By beating Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge on Monday, Nottingham Forest extended their unbeaten run in the Premier League to seven matches. It moved them six points clear of 18th-placed West Ham , and restored their five-point advantage over Spurs in 17th. Although not confirmed mathematically, the three points should be enough to seal Forest's place in the Premier League next season. Since replacing Sean Dyche in February, the 57-year-old has lost only two of his nine Premier League matches in charge. Pereira's side are unbeaten in matches against Manchester City , Tottenham , Aston Villa , Sunderland and Chelsea .

Spurs, on the other hand, followed up a first Premier League win of 2026 last week by earning a vital victory against a much-changed Aston Villa side on Sunday night. After three matchdays in the relegation zone, the win meant Spurs, last season's Europa League winners, climbed out of the bottom three and leapfrogged West Ham . It's three points - the lift that will give the lads. They have actually improved significantly in the past three months and, since suffering back-to-back defeats in January, have only lost four of their past 14 Premier League matches. The east Londoners have the unwanted record of accumulating the most points in the final eight games of the season (15) of any side to be relegated from the Premier League.

In more recent times, Newcastle United - the last team to be relegated from the Premier League with 36 points or more - hold the record for the longest unbeaten run at the end of a season (six games) by a team relegated to the Championship. If Forest, Spurs and West Ham maintain their current run of form, one of the three could end the season with a similarly unwanted place in the Premier League record books. Since the Premier League became a 20-team format in 1995, the average number of points needed for safety has been 36. But that will not be enough this time around given that West Ham have already reached that tally and currently occupy the third and final relegation place. " West Ham had been the form team out of the three clubs," said Smith.

The 2023 Conference League winners are averaging 1.03 points per game, which would mean they finish the season on 39 points. Tottenham 's return of 1.06 points per game puts them on course to finish on 40 points, while Forest are on track to secure safety for a fourth consecutive season by earning a tally of 46 points. In a relegation battle like no other, will the Premier League have one final shock in store? Listen to the latest Football Daily podcast Get football news sent straight to your phone The battle for Premier League survival is hotting up with Nottingham Forest, Tottenham and West Ham fighting for their lives. The high-quality relegation battle more like a title race