The new Premier League season is just weeks away as football fans gear up for the return of England’s most prestigious competition. There has been plenty of movement between managers and players ahead of the new campaign, making Premier League betting all the more challenging due to the sheer unpredictability of the top-flight.
Last season’s relegation battle was a rollercoaster of emotion, and despite their best efforts, Luton Town eventually faced the drop, with Rob Edwards and his side back in the Championship after their Cinderella story climbing the football pyramid.
Alongside them, Sheffield United and Burnley suffered relegation, with three newly promoted sides Leicester City, Ipswich Town, and Southampton joining the Premier League.
Staying up is no easy task, and in this article, we assess the relegation candidates for the 2024/25 season.
Leicester City
We begin with the side most likely to face the drop – former Premier League champions Leicester. The Foxes were relegated in the 2022/23 season but bounced back at the first time of asking under Enzo Maresca. However, with the Italian joining Chelsea ahead of next term, Steve Cooper has traded one side of the East Midlands for another, as the former Nottingham Forest man agreed to take over at the King Power Stadium.
While the Championship winners played a dominant brand of football on route to the Premier League, and their side boasts several internationals such as Belgium centre-back Wout Faes, the loss of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Chelsea and the ongoing uncertainty of whether they begin the campaign with a points deduction may prove to be too much for Cooper’s side. Jamie Vardy isn’t getting any younger leading the line and Leicester could well find themselves becoming a yo-yo club.
Nottingham Forest
From Cooper’s current side to his former employers, Nottingham Forest survived by the skin of their teeth last season despite spending over £130 million in the transfer market for the second successive season.
For all the talent they boast on paper, things were rather bleak at the City Ground for the majority of last season, and if Morgan Gibbs-White leaves, Forest lose their catalyst for creativity.
Nuno Espírito Santo has shown he can deal with the pressure of relegation, having guided Wolverhampton Wanderers through their initial years in the top-flight back in 2018, but the increased demand to perform could put the pressure on the Portuguese coach, with Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis showing he can be ruthless when the going gets tough.
Ipswich
Ipswich Town return to the Premier League for the first time since 2002 after they secured automatic promotion via a second-place finish in the Championship and the Tractor Boys were reassured by manager Kieran McKenna signing a contract extension at Portman Road.
José Mourinho’s former assistant impressed when he secured promotion, but his lack of experience could prove costly with a squad severely lacking talent.
Ipswich play a possession brand of football that is similar to Burnley, and you get the sense that if they don’t hit the ground running it could be tough for them to try and evolve tactically mid-way through the season when the pressure is already on.
Portman Road will host the first Saturday fixture of the new season when they host Liverpool, and it will be interesting to see if they try and play the same way against Arne Slot’s side – with the Dutchman looking to impress in his debut as Red’s manager.
If Ipswich are unable to invest in the transfer market, it could be a short-lived stint at the top for Mckenna and co.
