West Brom relegation scenario: How can Albion pull off the greatest of escapes?
Thanks to a four-game unbeaten run under Darren Moore, Albion are clinging on to their Premier League status by their fingernails.
They have evaded the drop for three weekends in a row, and have cut the gap to safety from 10 points to five.
The Baggies are five points behind 17th-placed Swansea with two games left, but the South Wales side still have to play both Southampton and Stoke.
Staying up is far more complicated than it first appears and it will take a remarkable set of results to keep them up this season. Here’s what needs to happen.
Saturday, May 5
12.30pm: Stoke must not beat Crystal Palace at home.
3pm: Albion must beat Tottenham at The Hawthorns. Swansea must lose away to Bournemouth. Southampton must lose away at Everton.
Tuesday, May 8
7.45pm: Swansea and Southampton must draw in Wales.
Sunday, May 13
3pm: Albion must beat Crystal Palace away. Southampton must lose to Manchester City at home. Swansea must lose to Stoke at home.
If those set of results come in, the table will finish:
17th Albion 34pts
18th Swansea 34pts
19th Stoke 33/34pts
20th Southampton 33pts
Swansea and Stoke already have a worse goal difference than Albion, so unless Stoke crash 11 goals past Swansea on the final day of the season, in this scenario, the Baggies stay up.
So first of all, the Baggies have to win both of their games to reach 34 points and stand any chance of staying in the division, no mean feat against Tottenham and Crystal Palace.
If that happens though, thanks to Stoke’s dreadful goal difference, the Potters can pick up a total of four points from their remaining four games and still finish below the Baggies.
And they’re going to have to beat Swansea on the last day of the season to give Albion any hope (if it even gets that far).
Southampton have three games, but they have to draw with Swansea in next week’s midweek showdown because if either team wins, Albion can’t catch them.
If they lose to Everton and Man City they will finish below the Baggies on points.
Swansea are the team most likely to kill off any hope. They can only pick up one point from their remaining three games, and it has to be against Southampton, although they also play Bournemouth and Stoke.
