During the season, EPL matches are broadcast to a possible audience of five billion people worldwide, making England’s Premier League the most-watched sports league in the world.

As the most competitive seasonal football league on the planet, the action is always engaging, and fans are serious about their allegiances. But what makes the Premier League extra exciting is that relegation rounds ensure there’s always excitement at the top and bottom of the standings toward the end of the season.

UK Football Basics: What Is a Relegation Battle in the Premier League?

If you’re new to European football, you may not be familiar with a relegation model.

In sports leagues, relegation is the process of demoting bottom-ranked teams while promoting top-performing lower-tier teams.

In the Premier League, the bottom three teams are sent down to the Championship League, while the top two teams in the Championship League are automatically promoted. The third team to move up is the winner of a playoff tournament among the 3rd-, 4th-, 5th-, and 6th-place teams.

The 2025-2026 Premier League Relegation Race

This season’s EPL relegation race is intense. Technically, the Wolverhampton Wanderers are in last place with 16 points. Burnley Football Club is in 19th place with 19 points, West Ham United has racked up 28 points, currently landing them in the 18th spot, and Nottingham Forest, with 28 points, is holding down the 17th slot.

But if there’s one relegation story on everyone’s mind this season, it’s Tottenham Hotspur, who are precariously sitting in the 16th seat. As of this writing, they only have a one-point advantage over the drop zone.

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Tottenham Hotspur in Trouble?

Tottenham has been in the Premier League since its inception in 1992. But things aren’t going well this season, and the team is dangerously close to being relegated to the Championship League.

What’s behind their subpar performance? Everyone has opinions. But a popular consensus is that the management shakeup over the past several years has led to the team’s instability.

It started when Ange Postecoglou took over as head coach in 2023. Even though the Hotspurs won the 2025 Europa League final, the team finished 17th in the Premier League, and Postecoglou got the boot. Thomas Frank took over the top management role but was sacked after eight months due to the team’s abysmal performance.

On February 13th, Igor Tudor was named interim head coach. With 9 games left, it will be interesting to see if he can help turn the squad’s fortunes.

They’ve yet to win a match in the 2026 calendar year.

The Wolves Are Likely Going Down

The Wolverhampton Wanderers are currently at the bottom of the barrel, and most folks believe they’ll be cut. The team’s challenges are mainly due to bad recruitment decisions.

Enchanted by the all-mighty pound, the Wolves let go of key players like Pedro Neto, Matheus Cunha, and Rayan Ait-Nouri, but never found workable replacements.

To date, this season, the Wanderers have only walked away with three wins. They’ve tied 7 times and lost 20 matches. While the squad has scored 22 goals, they’ve conceded 52.

Most supporters lay the club’s current troubles at the feet of Jeff Shi, the organization’s executive chairman, who stepped down on December 19, 2025, from day-to-day management. But he’s not gone; Shi is still in charge of Fosun Sports Group, which owns the club.

Nottingham Forest’s Annus Horribilis

To borrow a turn of phrase from the late Queen Elizabeth II, Nottingham Forest has had an “annus horribilis.” This season, they’ve had four “permanent” managers – each favoring a different style of play.

Some camps believe Forest can stave off regulation. Despite the hoopla, the players are working well together, and many people say the club is “too good to go down.” But at the end of the season, a team’s roster may look phenomenal on paper, but if they didn’t consistently get the ball in the back of the net in their 38 matches, names and reputations mean very little.

West Ham’s Protest Problems

West Ham United is also stuck at the bottom. Currently, they’re locked into the 18th slot with a spate of difficult upcoming games against Liverpool, Man City, and Aston Villa. Alternatively, they also have Wolverhampton, Crystal Palace, and Everton, all theoretically winnable games for West Ham.

While head coach Nuno Espírito Santo’s arrival in September has arguably been beneficial for the team – as they’ve made slight improvements in the front and back – the chances of them crawling out of the danger zone are slim because the bench lacks depth, the midfield is struggling, and ongoing fan protests over the club’s current board are hindering morale.

Burnley Blues

Vincent Kompany’s high-risk strategy is being cited as the main factor for Burnley’s challenging season. Moreover, they signed younger talent, which has proven ineffective.

Financial stressors and a slow start have also led to confidence issues that have plagued Burnley since the beginning of the season.

Although the team has taken points from Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea, they just haven’t proven themselves enough to hang in the Premier League.

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The EPL is exciting thanks to the intense action at the top and bottom of the rankings. So stay tuned to see how the 2025-2026 Premier League relegation battle unfolds. Who will climb up to the EPL and who will find themselves in the Championship League for the 2026-2027 season? Time will tell, and the action is addictive.