Wednesday 9 May 2018 11:18, UK
Southampton took a giant step towards staying in the Premier League next season by beating Swansea 1-0 at the Liberty Stadium on Tuesday night. The result means West Brom are now relegated and survival is out of Swansea’s hands. But is there a twist in the tale?
One of Swansea, Southampton and Huddersfield will be joining Stoke and the Baggies in the Championship next season. Here, we take a look at the permutations ahead of a potentially dramatic final day of the Premier League season…
The Saints now know that a point in their remaining game will be enough to secure their status in the top flight. The catch is that they are up against champions Manchester City at St Mary's. While Huddersfield took a point off them last weekend, it is still a daunting task.
The good news for Mark Hughes and his players is that even a defeat may not be fatal to their hopes of surviving the drop. Southampton's superior goal difference means that if Huddersfield do not get another point then the Terriers will stay below the Saints.
Even a victory for Swansea in their last game and a loss for Southampton to City would need to see a 10-goal swing in the Welsh side's favour for them to stay up. Unlikely, but if they could have handpicked their visitors, they would have plumped for already-relegated Stoke.
Swansea know they have to win their remaining game because they are already three points adrift of Huddersfield and Southampton. So they are also now reliant on one of those two teams failing to pick up another point between now and the end of the season.
If that team is Southampton then, as stated above, that task still looks an almost impossible one. Swansea will need a 10-goal swing with the only source of hope being the fact that while they play the bottom club, Southampton are up against the champions.
The more plausible scenario - and the one that Swansea fans will be clinging to - is the prospect of overtaking Huddersfield. They will move out of the relegation zone on the final day if they beat Stoke, while David Wagner's team lose to both Chelsea and Arsenal.
In short, a point will do it for Huddersfield. And they have two chances to get it. The first is on Wednesday night against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, where a repeat of their unlikely 0-0 draw against Manchester City at the weekend would be enough to get the job done.
If that opportunity is spurned then there is an even better one on Sunday when Arsenal are the visitors to the John Smith's Stadium. If Huddersfield can avoid defeat against the Gunners that would guarantee their safety regardless of what happens elsewhere.
Should Wagner's men lose both of these games then they are vulnerable. It would mean them finishing below Southampton unless City put at least 14 goals past the Saints. But it would also mean them finishing below Swansea if Stoke are beaten at the Liberty Stadium. We will have our answers on Sunday.
