Back on December 1st, the bookies had us second favourites to go down after a 1-1 draw with Norwich at St James’ Park left us rock bottom of the Premier League SIX points from safety.
Fast forward two and a half months, the bookies now reckon there are FIVE teams more likely to go down than ourselves, with Norwich, Watford, Burnley, Leeds and Brentford all above us in the betting.
Both Burnley and Watford won at the weekend, securing huge victories at Brighton and Aston Villa, respectively, however Leeds were beaten 4-2 at home to Man Utd and Brentford lost 2-1 at Arsenal.
The Bees are in big trouble on current form. After losing six and drawing one of their last seven league games, we can go above them with a win on Saturday – and we also have TWO games in hand on Thomas Frank’s side.
Here are the Sky Bet’s latest relegation odds as of Monday morning (21st February) and the current Premier League table, followed by how the bookies saw it after Howe’s first full game in charge at SJP:
- Norwich – 1/9
- Watford – 1/3
- Burnley – 4/7
- Leeds – 3-1
- Brentford – 10/3
- Newcastle – 4/1
- Everton – 5/1
In comparison, here’s what the odds looked like back on December 1st; just a day after our frustrating draw with Norwich:
- Norwich – 2/9
- Newcastle – 8/15
- Watford – 10/11
- Burnley – 1/1
- Leeds – 5/1
- Brentford – 13/2
- Southampton – 13/2
- Crystal Palace – 10/1
What a job Eddie Howe has done.
The table is looking so much healthier than it did two and a half months ago and our performances on the pitch have clearly convinced the bookies that we’ll be OK – even if Kieran Trippier is set to miss the remainder of the season.
After six games unbeaten, three wins in our last four and another impressive display over the weekend, we no longer look like a side heading for the Championship!
