SAINTS are on the verge of relegation to the Championship and they need a win this weekend to mathematically take the fight any further.
Following Monday’s 4-3 defeat at relegation rivals Nottingham Forest, Ruben Selles and his players find themselves eight points adrift of safety.
With just three matches to go, the St Mary’s side must win every game and hope for every result to go their way in order to pull off the greatest escape in Premier League history.
More likely is that their fate is sealed this weekend – but what would it take for Saints to be mathematically relegated to the second division and when could it happen?
Fixtures:
Leeds vs Newcastle – Saturday, May 13 (12:30PM).
Saints vs Fulham – Saturday, May 13 (3PM).
Chelsea vs Forest – Saturday, May 13 (3PM).
Everton vs Man City – Sunday, May 14 (2PM)
Leicester vs Liverpool - Monday, May 15 (8PM).
There are four other teams competing with Saints – on 24 points – to avoid the drop. Leeds United (19th, 30), Leicester City (18th, 30), Everton (17th, 32) and Forest (16th, 33).
What. A. Weekend. pic.twitter.com/qTlm8DVLGH
— Premier League (@premierleague) May 9, 2023
Saints host Fulham at St Mary’s on Saturday, May 13 with kick-off at 3PM. Leeds United, who sit 19th, could extend the gap between Saints and safety to nine points with victory over Newcastle United.
They kick off at Elland Road at 12:30PM on Saturday but even doing so would not officially relegate Saints despite having an improved goal difference and attention would turn to St Mary’s.
Should Saints fail to beat Fulham, their relegation to the Championship for the first time since re-reaching the promised land under Nigel Adkins in 2012 will be sealed. A win keeps it open.
A point for Forest at Chelsea would take them out of sight completely, while a point for Everton at home to Manchester City would take them six clear with a potential 10 lead on goal difference.
Wins for either Leicester City (home to Liverpool) and Leeds would extend the gap to six points and again mean only overturning mammoth goal differences could mean they would be caught.
Effectively, Saints must win against Fulham and hope a maximum of one of the four rival teams gets a positive result in order to keep the chase alive for another weekend.
Everton do not play until Sunday and Leicester City’s match takes place on Monday evening, meaning relegation could be confirmed while Saints are not on the pitch.
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