With Nottingham Forest and West Ham improving under new management, these are worrying times for two of the newly-promoted clubs.
| Premier League Relegation | Odds |
|---|---|
| Wolves | 1.10 |
| Burnley | 1.30 |
| West Ham | 2.37 |
| Leeds | 2.37 |
| Nottingham Forest | 3.75 |
| Fulham | 6.00 |
Odds courtesy of BetWinner. Correct at time of publishing and subject to change
Premier League relegation odds: Nuno and Postecoglou’s new clubs in the mix
The fight for survival in the 2025/26 Premier League is shaping up to be one of the most competitive in years. Burnley and Wolves are the favourites to go down, with both sides given an implied relegation probability of over 50%. However, there’s not much to choose between five other clubs.
Newly-promoted Sunderland have already defied all pre-season expectations by collecting 11 points from their opening six games. That’s just one fewer than Southampton managed in all of last season.
With Leeds also in good form, and Brentford impressing at home, the spotlight inevitably falls on both Nottingham Forest and West Ham.
Both sides have won just one match so far. Forest beat Brentford 3-1 at the City Ground on the opening weekend when Nuno was still their manager. The Portuguese boss was also in the home dugout on Matchday 3, when West Ham claimed their solitary win, with a 3-0 victory in Nottingham.
There have been managerial changes at both clubs since that match. Nuno has swapped the City Ground for the London Stadium, with Postecoglou replacing him in the East Midlands.
That has already created a major subplot to this season’s relegation battle. Nuno hopes to ultimately have the last laugh, following his fallout with Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis.
Nottingham Forest
Having spent most of last season in the top five, it’s surprising to see Nottingham Forest feature among the leading relegation candidates.
Their summer was better than expected on many levels, with key midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White ultimately signing a new contract. They also spent £205m on fresh additions, with the likes of Omari Hutchinson, Dan Ndoye, Dilane Bakwa, Douglas Luiz and Oleksandr Zinchenko joining the club.
The uncertainty surrounding Nuno’s future clearly didn’t help, and so far, there has been little to suggest Postecoglou was the right replacement.
The ex-Tottenham boss has a very different football philosophy to his predecessor. Forest had the second-lowest passing accuracy in the Premier League last term, at just 78.7%. They frequently went direct to striker Chris Wood, who excelled up front with 20 goals.
Wood also won 2.6 aerial challenges per game on average, but that figure has already dropped to 1.5 this season. The New Zealander hasn’t found the net since scoring a brace on the opening day.
Forest had 65% of the ball against Sunderland last time out, and 64% in their previous game against Burnley. They only collected one point from those games, however, and are clearly struggling to adapt to Postecoglou’s possession-based style.
There were promising signs in their Europa League opener against Real Betis. Igor Jesus was chosen ahead of Wood up front, and made an impact, scoring twice. It may only be a matter of time before we see more of the Brazilian in the Premier League too.
Overall, there is still more than enough quality in this squad to keep Forest in the top flight. If Postecoglou doesn’t start picking up results soon, there is still time for another manager to come in and rescue things.
West Ham
West Ham’s tactical approach is likely to be in reverse to that of Forest, with Nuno replacing Graham Potter. The Englishman was sacked after his side lost four of their opening five Premier League fixtures.
That change had been coming. Potter made little impact after taking the job last season, and things were in danger of spiralling out of control this term.
They’ve been poor defensively, with a league-high 14 goals conceded. However, they’ve only allowed 8.3 xG, with some good finishing from their opponents, and poor goalkeeping contributing to their slow start. Mads Hermansen saved only 45% of the shots he faced, before being axed after a 3-0 home defeat to Tottenham.
There were some promising signs in Nuno’s first match against Everton. Despite having little time to work with his new squad, West Ham immediately seemed stronger at the back. The Toffees created just one big chance and only 0.74 xG in a 1-1 draw at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Whether that’s the start of a long-term recovery is more doubtful. Nuno does not have as much defensive quality to work with as was the case in Nottingham. The goalkeeper position is also a major area of concern.
Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta offer quality at the other end of the pitch, but an injury to either could leave the Hammers in huge trouble. Even with a proven Premier League boss on board, they are still more likely to go down than Nuno’s old club.