As we enter the business end of the season, the battle to stay in the Premier League is heating up.
Right now, there looks to be four teams that are very much in danger of being relegated down to the Championship.
Those teams are Burnley, Watford, Norwich and Newcastle – with Everton and Leeds United teetering on being sucked into the relegation battle.
Eddie Howe’s Newcastle are in a fight to stay in the Premier League after a poor start to the season. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
How many points does it normally take to stay in the Premier League?
But how many points will the sides above need to aim for to ensure they are not relegated this term?
The general assumption is that 40 points is the magic number to aim for in order to ensure your survival.
However, throughout much of the Premier League’s existence, the 40 point mark was often not needed to secure saftey.
When were 40 points or more needed to stay in the Premier League?
Since the Premier League became a 20-team league from 1995/96, 40 points or more has only been needed on four occasions.
In 1996/97 and 1997/98, the 18th-place teams finished on 40 points, meaning 41 was needed to guarantee safety.
In 2002/03, 18th-place would finish on 42, meaning 43 points were actually needed – this is the most any side has had to earn to ensure they staved off relegation in the history of the Premier League.
Then, in 2010/11, 18th place would garner 39 points, meaning the magic 40 mark was actually needed then.
What are the average points needed to stay in the Premier League?
Outside of the above, 34 points were needed on four occasions, 35 on four occasions, 36 once, 37 five times, 38 once, 39 twice and 31 once back in 2009/10.
This works out at an average of 35.7, so essentially 36, points needed to stay in the Premier League each campaign.
