Have Newcastle already done enough to secure their Premier League survival?

Paul Okey
5 April 2022

Martin Dubravka Newcastle at Tottenham Apr22

Planet Sport looks back on previous relegation battles to assess whether Newcastle, despite having suffered three successive defeats, can start planning for next season’s top-flight campaign.

Newcastle picked up their 31st point of the season after beating Southampton on March 10 and have since gone on to lose their next three games, the last of which was a 5-1 thumping at the hands of Tottenham.

Considering the Magpies are nine points clear of Watford in the final relegation spot with only eight games to play they may feel they have already done enough.

Planet Sport crunches the numbers to see if Newcastle need to put their deckchairs away.

Has a side with 31 points ever survived in the Premier League?

Well the quick answer is no.

But that's not to say that they couldn't have.

In the 26 seasons since the Premier League was reduced to 20 teams, the lowest points tally from a team staying up has been West Brom's 34 points in 2004/05. The Baggies actually started the final game of the season bottom, but a win over Portsmouth was enough to fire them to safety at the expense of Southampton (32pts), Norwich (33pts) and Crystal Palace (33pts).

Hull, in 2009, West Ham, in 2010 and Aston Villa, in 2020, all survived with 35 points, well below the 40 points often cited as the marker for safety.

However, 31 points would have kept Newcastle out of the bottom three last season, with Fulham the best of the relegated sides on 28 points.

It would also have been enough to keep their heads above water in 2009/10, with Burnley and Hull the best of the worst with 30 points apiece.

Magpies not alone

Newcastle are not the only club to have taken their foot off the gas having achieved 31 points, though.

Brighton racked up their 33rd with a 2-0 win at Watford on February 12 and then went on to lose their next six Premier League fixtures, a run only halted by a goalless draw with rock-bottom Norwich last time out.

There is better news for the Seagulls, though, with 34 points and a decent goal difference enough to escape the bottom three in 13 of the last 26 campaigns.