Predicting the Bottom Six Premier League Teams in 2026/27

This was a toss-up between Everton and Sunderland, but we went with Everton on account of the fact that they haven’t really addressed their key squad issues in the transfer market.

While Sunderland’s business in the summer has been meagre, their existing squad should be good enough to remain competitive, even with European football on the horizon. Everton, meanwhile, are clearly lacking in a few areas.

The Toffees almost certainly have enough quality to beat the drop, especially with the likes of Brennan Johnson and Christian Norgaard having been brought on board, but we can’t help but feel they have remained stagnant when improvements were necessary.

16. Crystal Palace

Everton might’ve stayed the same, but Crystal Palace have seemingly gone backwards this summer. Bringing in former Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu was a good move, but not many other positive things can be said about their transfer window business.

For a team poised for Europa League football next season, one assumed they would’ve shown a bit more urgency in the summer, especially with star defender Maxence Lacroix having left to join Chelsea. If Jean-Philippe Mateta departs, they could be in trouble.

Still, it’s very unlikely that they’ll get relegated. They simply have too much strength for the teams below them – even if their form in the latter half of last season left a lot to be desired.

17. Fulham

Fulham could certainly flirt with relegation next season. Having lost Harry Wilson and Raul Jimenez, their most reliable sources of goals, it’s hard to see where they will come from in 2026/27.

On top of this, the appointment of Alvaro Arbeloa is a real gamble. He’s very inexperienced, having only spent a few months in charge of Real Madrid prior to this.

Star signing Gonzalo Garcia could prove to be a clever buy, but he also isn’t guaranteed to succeed. All in all, we feel like Fulham have spun the wheel with all their chips in – for their sake, let’s hope the house doesn’t win on this occasion.

18. Coventry City

Coventry City were excellent in the Championship last year, but the gap between the first and second tiers of English football becomes greater and greater with each passing year.

Unfortunately, while they have the resources to put up a solid fight, we feel Coventry will be a casualty of this. They have certainly strengthened over the summer, but will it be enough?

Taiwo Awonyi and Gustavo Hamer are excellent signings, for sure. Still, they lack the quality in depth to remain consistent throughout the campaign.

19. Ipswich Town

While Coventry will run the established Premier League teams close, the bottom two most likely won’t. Ipswich Town’s chances of beating the drop took a serious hit when beloved head coach Kieran McKenna left the club to go on a sabbatical.

Gary O’Neil was a canny replacement, if a bit uninspiring. He has competed in relegation scraps before, but not with such meagre resources at his disposal.

Their transfer business hasn’t really captured the imagination, either. Sasa Lukic was a decent acquisition, as was Daizen Maeda, but we can’t see how the likes of Emersonn, Florentino Luis and Chuba Akpom will be able to give them the necessary boost to remain competitive.

20. Hull City

Well, you all saw this one coming. No-one really expected Hull City to win promotion last season – as a result, they are woefully under-prepared for Premier League football.

They have been necessarily shrewd in the transfer market, on account of financial constraints, but their squad is by far the weakest in the league approaching the dawn of the campaign.

On top of this, Sergej Jakirović has never coached in the Premier League before. We’d expect them to beat Derby County’s lowest-ever points tally of 11 – but this is probably as much as they can aspire to.