Yet the bottom of the Premier League has become noticeably less competitive, possibly as a result of the division growing more intense overall.
Although one club is often expected to fall well behind before the season concludes, it has recently become common for two teams to be left trailing the rest.
Across 38-match campaigns, the team finishing second from bottom averages 31 points. This suggests that clubs in that position have traditionally remained involved in the fight for survival for much of the season before eventually being relegated.
Following the league’s reduction to 20 clubs in 1995-96, only two teams finishing 19th recorded fewer than 30 points during the next 21 seasons. By contrast, seven of the 10 clubs ending a campaign in that place over the past decade have fallen below that total.
Indeed, promoted clubs Ipswich and Burnley each occupied 19th place with only 22 points in the past two seasons, setting a new record low for a team finishing second from bottom.
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