Wolves and Burnley Relegated: Who’s Next to Join Them in the Championship?

With Wolves and Burnley now relegated from the Premier League, attention turns to which team will join them in the Championship next season. BBC Sport has examined the battle among four clubs fighting to avoid the final drop spot as the 2025-26 season reaches its climax.

Burnley’s loss to Manchester City confirmed their relegation, following Wolves’ demotion which was secured earlier in the week. This leaves one relegation spot still to be decided, with Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur all involved in the fight to stay up.

As of the latest matches, Leeds have taken seven points from their last three games to reach the 40-point mark. This includes a dramatic late equaliser by Sean Longstaff at Bournemouth that secured a draw and helped Leeds move nine points clear of Tottenham in 18th place.

Leeds boss Daniel Farke spoke to BBC Match of the Day about his team’s position, saying: “I am experienced long enough in this world, we will celebrate when it’s mathematically done. It’s too early. We are on 40 points, seven games unbeaten in all competitions, so I am confident. Why should we lose the last four games?”

Farke added that a victory over Championship-bound Burnley at Elland Road might be enough to make Leeds mathematically safe from relegation, though he cautioned that there is still work to do before he would allow himself to celebrate.

The Athletic’s writers have also weighed in on the relegation battle, with their views described as “almost universal” regarding which team is most likely to go down. Their analysis points to Tottenham Hotspur as the favourites to fill the final relegation spot.

According to The Athletic, Tottenham’s decline has appeared terminal, with the club dropping into the relegation zone. The writers suggest that while better timing might have averted the situation—such as sourcing a better replacement for Thomas Frank earlier—the eventual arrival of Roberto De Zerbi may come too late given West Ham’s improved form.

The report notes that four of the five teams Tottenham face in their run-in have something to play for, and moments like Brighton’s late equaliser on Saturday will further erode what is already described as “paper-thin belief” in their survival chances.

BBC Sport also highlighted recent goal contributions from key players across the teams involved in the battle. West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen, Tottenham’s Xavi Simons and Morgan Gibbs-White of Nottingham Forest have all scored important goals for their respective sides in recent matches, as noted in the accompanying Getty Images caption.

As the season enters its final stages, the race to avoid relegation remains tightly contested, with Leeds appearing to have gained a temporary advantage through their recent form, while Tottenham face what analysts describe as a difficult task to escape the drop zone.