Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman has tipped Ipswich Town to be the most competitive of the three sides likely to be relegated from the Premier League back into the Championship next season.
The fact that all three outfits that gained promotion from the Championship less than twelve months ago are now poised to suffer relegation is a damning indictment of the quality gap separating English football’s top two tiers, and it’s one which none of Ipswich, Leicester City or Southampton have been able to bridge.
Southampton, who achieved promotion via the Championship play-offs at the very first attempt last term, have spent almost the entirety of the 2024/25 campaign cut firmly adrift at the foot of the table.
The Saints, now under the management of Ivan Juric following Russell Martin’s dismissal earlier this term, are set to etch their name in history as one of the division’s worst sides, having managed just two wins and nine points from 29 matches, leaving them a staggering seventeen points from safety with nine games to spare.
Leicester won the league title with 97 points but have seldom looked capable of re-establishing themselves in the top-flight. The Foxes were hampered by Enzo Maresca’s decision to leave for Chelsea last summer and promptly appointed Steve Cooper, but the Welshman was swiftly relieved of his duties for Ruud Van Nistelrooy, who has lost 14 of his 18 games in charge.
