West Ham and Tottenham dragged into relegation fight as run-in begins
West Ham and Tottenham have been dragged into an intensifying Premier League relegation battle with just ten games remaining in the season.
Wolves appear destined for the Championship despite a spirited victory over Aston Villa on Friday.
The Molineux club are considered certainties for the drop, leaving two relegation spots still to be decided.
Burnley sit second-bottom, currently eight points adrift of safety.
The Hammers occupy the final relegation place in 18th, sitting two points away from survival.
Spurs face historic drop
Nottingham Forest and Leeds United are looking nervously over their shoulders.
However, the shock inclusion in this survival scrap is Tottenham.
The north Londoners face the real possibility of dropping into the second tier for the first time since 1977.
Aside from Wolves, the rest of the bottom six all have 10 matches left to save their season.
Supercomputer predicts bottom three
Following a weekend where the bottom five all lost, the Opta supercomputer has crunched the numbers.
The data model gives West Ham a 69.4% chance of being relegated alongside Burnley and Wolves.
Forest are currently given a 25% chance of going down.
Despite their poor form, Spurs are rated at just a 5% chance of the drop, with Leeds safer at 2.1%.
Crucial six-pointers ahead
The fixture list could prove decisive, with Leeds facing four of the bottom six in their final stretch.
This includes a potentially season-defining trip to east London to face West Ham on the final day.
Key dates include Tottenham hosting Forest on 22 March and a massive clash between Leeds and Burnley on 2 May.
Points target increases
In the last nine seasons, 36 points has usually been enough to secure top-flight status.
Last term, 26 points would have sufficed as Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton made immediate returns to the Championship.
Spurs finished a dismal 17th last year on 38 points while focusing on the Europa League.
With the quality of teams fighting for survival significantly higher this season, the traditional 40-point mark is firmly back in focus.
