The tight battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League is set for a feisty finish with Leicester City, Burnley and Queens Park Rangers hoping to avoid becoming the first promoted sides in 17 years to all go down.
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The only time since the Premier League’s inception in 1992 that all three sides who came up from the second tier were immediately relegated was in the 1997-98 campaign when Barnsley, Bolton Wanderers and Crystal Palace all failed to beat the drop.
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Bottom side Burnley have won just one of their last 13 league fixtures, but despite their struggles boss Sean Dyche has been praised by many who predicted his side would be dead and buried by now.
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“It’s different for us, I said to the lads ‘you’ve been written off now, you’ve been written off all season’, so it makes no difference to us,” Dyche said after his side’s defeat to Leicester last weekend.
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QPR’s resistance has not been helped by a dismal away record, an ageing squad and former manager Harry Redknapp’s surprise decision to step down in February.
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Sunderland currently occupy 18th spot, the final relegation place.
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They are a point behind 17th-placed Leicester, but boast a crucial game in hand on Nigel Pearson’s side, whose run of four straight league wins came to an end against runaway leaders Chelsea on Wednesday.
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While the promoted teams and Sunderland are in a nip-and-tuck battle to avoid the drop, familiar Premier League faces Newcastle United and Aston Villa are not yet safe.
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