Wolves and Leicester City are on a collision course to battle it out for just one spot in the Premier League table.
The Old Gold have had an awful domestic season to date. The same can be said for Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Foxes. Both sides started the season poorly and have yet to truly recover.
With Southampton as good as down, and although Ipswich Town could have a say in who survives and who doesn’t, it looks like it’s coming down to a straight shootout between Wolves and Leicester City.
And although Vitor Pereira is confident Wolves can survive the drop, the stats tell us it’s going to be close.
READ: What Vitor Pereira once said about Liverpool got him fired and enraged an entire fanbase
Wolves have major advantage in race for survival
As detailed by The Athletic, in years gone by, the teams with the highest points tallies to be relegated were Blackpool and Birmingham City. Both teams finished the 2010-11 season with 39 points.
Since then, the average number of points required to stay in the Premier League has slowly been declining — probably due to the disparity in quality between the top, and bottom, half teams.
Either way, just six years ago, the average points total for teams finishing in 18th place was 35.6. That average has now come down to 34 points, which means Leicester City, who are on 17 points, are likely to need another 19 points to be safe.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 14 |  TottenhamTottenham | 24 | 8 | 3 | 13 | 48 | 37 | 11 | 27 |
| 15 |  West HamWest Ham | 24 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 29 | 46 | -17 | 27 |
| 16 |  EvertonEverton | 23 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 23 | 28 | -5 | 26 |
| 17 |  WolvesWolves | 24 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 34 | 52 | -18 | 19 |
| 18 |  LeicesterLeicester | 24 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 25 | 53 | -28 | 17 |
| 19 |  IpswichIpswich | 24 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 22 | 49 | -27 | 16 |
| 20 |  SouthamptonSouthampton | 24 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 18 | 54 | -36 | 9 |
The problem for the Foxes is that they’ve averaged just 0.7 points per game this campaign. Should this trend continue for their final 14 matches, they will earn just 10 more points (rounded up from 9.8), and that would leave them nine points short of safety.
Where the statistics tells us Wolves will finish in the Premier League
Even though the race for survival will be a lot less clear-cut than the statistics tell us, Wolves have a clear advantage over their relegation rivals.
The Old Gold have a slightly better points per game average than the Foxes, who, as mentioned above, are averaging just 0.7 points per game and destined to finish on 27 points.
Pereira’s men, on the other hand, are averaging 0.8 points per game, and, should they continue producing these numbers in their final 14 fixtures, would end the campaign on 30 points, three clear of Van Nistelrooy’s side.
Should the Old Gold lock up 17th place, they will successfully retain their top-flight status — but beware Pereira — fans will not want a repeat of this season next time out.