Premier League relegation betting: Fulham odds-on favourites for the drop next season

If, like me, you were unlucky enough to sit through the first 90 minutes of Tuesday evening’s Championship play-off final, then I offer my sincerest condolences. 

Two of the division’s most impressive sides - one of which finished with more goals than any in the second tier this season - played out a painstakingly boring game of football which yielded precisely zero goals in normal time.

Thankfully, things came alive in extra-time and a rare-but-brilliant brace from Fulham left-back Joe Bryan sealed the Cottagers’ fate and they will now once again be plying their trade in the Premier League next term.

But will they manage to stay there?

While the west Londoners have tasted great success in England’s top-flight over the years and were regular tenants in the top half of the division during the mid-to-late noughties, in more recent times they have started to acquire the unwanted ‘yo-yo club’ tag. 

Few would place Fulham in the same bracket as the club which joined them in promotion from the Championship this season. West Brom, alongside the likes of Norwich, Birmingham, Hull, QPR and Crystal Palace are far and away the dominant figures where yo-yo clubs are concerned - although a number of those clubs are now years away from their prime yo-yo’ing days.

Fulham are however on the cusp of entering these realms, and should they find themselves relegated back to the Championship next season then that would take their ‘Relegated From The Premier League’ tally to three in the last seven years.

The job is not merely just to get there, but to stay there, and Scott Parker must now focus his attention on avoiding a repeat of the 2018-19 campaign, where the Cottagers finished 19th in the top-flight having won promotion via the play-offs the very season before.

There is every chance that we will see an invigorated Fulham outfit reinstate themselves as Premier League regulars in the coming years. The personnel they have available is certainly top-flight quality, with last season’s Championship top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic yet again proving that he is too good for the second tier during the last 12 months. 

Anthony Knockaert and Ivan Cavaleiro are both experienced players at Premier League level, and there is certainly plenty to suggest that players like Neeskens Kebano and Tom Cairney will be capable of stepping up and meeting the demands of the English first tier next season.

If Fulham can keep hold of Harrison Reed - the Southampton loanee who was a standout performer at Craven Cottage all season - then their midfield will be significantly strengthened come September 12. 

A deal for Reed currently hangs in the balance, though it does seem likely that a permanent transfer for the 25-year-old will be completed in the coming weeks if reports in the media are to be believed. 

Bookies aren’t feeling confident in Fulham’s chances, however, pricing them as odds-on favourites for the drop next season. The Cottagers are EVENS in the Premier League relegation betting with bookmaker’s Paddy Power, slightly shorter than West Brom’s price of 5/4.

Boing Boing Baggies

As briefly touched on, the Baggies really do have a reputation as one of English football’s biggest yo-yo clubs having been relegated from the Premier League four times in the last 17 years. 

Like Fulham, West Brom have some fantastic talent within their ranks and if they can add one or two more signings during the current transfer window then they’ll have every chance of retaining their top-flight status beyond next season. 

As we have seen before, though, this is a far from easy task and if they don’t hit the ground running in September then the task at hand suddenly becomes much more difficult. 

Leeds’ long-awaited return to the Premier League finally ended as they won the Championship last month. 

Marcelo Bielsa’s side played some fantastic football throughout the duration of the campaign and were deserved champions, and early indications suggest that they’ll have what it takes to remain in the top-flight beyond next season. 

Indeed, the Whites have been priced up as 5/2 shots for a top-half finish next term, while their odds to break into Europe by finishing in the top-six stand at 11/1 with Betfair. The odds-makers are clearly confident in the West Yorkshiremen, reflected in their price for the drop which currently stands at 4/1 with Paddy Power. 

Villa need to address defensive frailties 

Aston Villa dramatically escaped the drop on the last day of the season having looked destined for relegation for the majority of the 2019-20 campaign. 

Dean Smith’s side are third-favourites to go down next season, though, priced at 9/5 and if they lose talismanic skipper Jack Grealish then it does seem likely that the West Midlanders will struggle once again. 

Even if Grealish remains at Villa Park it doesn’t guarantee their safety. Last season they had the second-worst defensive record in the whole division - shipping 67 goals in 38 games - so if they don’t address their issues at the back then it could be a case of much of the same for the Villans in 2020-21.

Crystal Palace follow up in the betting as 2/1 shots for the drop next season

The Eagles’ lack of potency in front of goal saw them finish the campaign as the division’s second-lowest scorers (31 goals), ahead of rock-bottom Norwich by just five goals, with their leading goalscorer Jordan Ayew ending the season with a meagre nine-goal haul from 37 league appearances. 

If Palace fail to bring in some much-needed firepower in the final third, and god forbid lose star creator Wilfried Zaha, they could be in huge trouble. 

A full list of each club’s relegation odds can be found listed below.