Premier League relegation battle: Who has enough to stay up this season?

Premier League relegation battle: Who has enough to stay up this season?

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Suddenly, the Premier League relegation picture is not so clear. Before Christmas, Sunderland, Hull City and Swansea City seemed destined for the drop but a raft of managerial changes and one transfer window later, and three becomes six.

Bournemouth, winless so far in 2017 and on 27 points, and Watford on 28, whose shock 2-1 Tuesday win at Arsenal followed a sequence of just one victory in eight matches, could yet be dragged into the battle too. So who from the six below have the capabilities to survive?

20th: Sunderland (16 points)

"Tottenham could not win at Sunderland [a 0-0 draw] with their talented young players," said Man City manager Pep Guardiola on Wednesday, seeking to explain the difficulties of the Premier League. Still, David Moyes' team produced their best result in weeks and yet the club's situation got worse as other results went against them.

Sunderland have not won since Dec. 17, when beating Watford 1-0 at the Stadium of Light. The transfer window brought slim pickings and nothing in the way of novelty as Bryan Oviedo, Darron Gibson and Joleon Lescott all worked with Moyes at Everton. Jermain Defoe, who did stay, remains the singular hope of salvation. If Sunderland are to escape, then it will be through hard work alone.

Survival rating: 3/10

19th: Hull City (17 points)

When beginning the season with just 13 fit players, doom was widely predicted. But now Hull brim with an unlikely hope. The management of Marco Silva -- who replaced Mike Phelan early in January -- has galvanised a club otherwise still riven by divide between supporters and club owners the Allam Family.

Phelan's sacking was viewed as unfair by many, but Silva has transformed Hull's style of play. Since the Portuguese's arrival, only Chelsea have beaten Hull in the Premier League, while Wednesday's 0-0 draw at Manchester United drove Jose Mourinho to paranoid distraction.

The transfer window saw former favourites Jake Livermore and Robert Snodgrass depart, and the squad overhauled by five loanees and the signing of Porto midfielder Evandro Goebel and Rennes winger Kamil Grosicki.

Survival rating: 6/10

18th: Crystal Palace (19 points)

While winning 2-0 at Bournemouth on Tuesday, there were signs of the old Sam Allardyce swagger returning. Palace had been poor since his pre-Christmas arrival in South London, collecting just two points in six matches and being dragged into the bottom three, but perhaps the slump was a necessary byproduct in the process of change.

Palace have significantly altered their style of play from the open-plan flourishes of predecessor Alan Pardew. The Deadline Day loan signing of Mamadou Sakho at centre-back may prove crucial if the Frenchman can recover his long-lost Liverpool form. Saturday's home match with Allardyce's former club Sunderland, and the Feb. 25 meeting with Middlesbrough, have the look of six-pointers.

Survival rating: 6/10

17th: Swansea City (21 points)

Recent weeks have not been kind to poor Bob Bradley; Swansea have won three from five Premier League matches since the American was sacked as head coach. Paul Clement has restored the old Swansea way of passing football and things are looking up.

Fernando Llorente and Gylfi Sigurdsson have always offered significant attacking quality and keeping that pair in South Wales was Swansea's best result in January, aside from winning 3-2 at Liverpool on Jan. 25. Signed for £4.5 million, Tom Carroll, a cogent passer if perhaps not robust enough for Tottenham, is a midfield player to help revive those previous traditions and lead them to safety.

Survival rating: 6/10

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16th: Leicester City (21 points)

Things are getting desperate for the defending champions, who are now without a Premier League victory in 2017. Opposing managers have now worked Leicester out and manager Claudio Ranieri's attempts to recalibrate his team have failed. The saga of Leonardo Ulloapublicly wanting out of Leicester was a worrying pointer to a collapse in the team spirit that inspired the heroics of 2015-16

Wilfred Ndidi, signed in January from Genk, is the latest attempt to replace N'Golo Kante in midfield but there are problems in each department, ranging from Jamie Vardy's loss of goal scoring form (only four since Sept. 10) and captain Wes Morgan's struggles in defence. For Ranieri, there is now a significant likelihood of last season's fairytale being post-scripted by his sacking.

Survival rating: 6/10

15th: Middlesbrough (21 points)

Aitor Karanka's team are not easy on the eye. They are also the Premier League's lowest scorers on just 19 goals in 23 matches; a defence that has let in just 26, the best record in the bottom half, has kept them from sliding further.

But now goals have to be found if Boro are not to be relegated at the first time of asking. Karanka does not seem convinced of his team's ability to supply them, judging by this week's outburst at a lack of transfer activity. "The club knew a month and a half ago the players that I wanted," he said. That followed an earlier outburst in which he criticised home supporters. There may be trouble ahead.