Javi Gracia knew exactly what the objective was when taking over at Leeds United from Jesse Marsch - Premier League survival. The Spaniard has taken four points from his opening three Premier League games in charge of the Whites, but they dropped into the bottom three with a draw against high flying Brighton at the weekend.
Their fate remains very much in their own control as they're set to take on a number of relegation rivals in the coming weeks. A supercomputer has already predicted survival by the finest of margins, but with 40 points generally considered the safe point in the Premier League, LeedsLive has taken a look at some of the stats from previous years to debunk that myth.
The Whites survived on the final day of last season with just 38 points, with Burnley going down on 35 points following defeat to Newcastle United on the final day, but Clarets had a vastly superior goal difference to Leeds which made a win at Brentford vital. Goals from Raphinha and Jack Harrison secured a dramatic final-day survival with a win over the Bees.
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However, since the Premier League became a 20-team league in 1995/96, 40 points or more has been needed on just four occasions from a possible 27. In 1996/97 and 1997/98, 18th-place teams Sunderland and Bolton Wanderers finished on 40 points, meaning 41 was needed to guarantee safety.
In 2002/03, 18th-placed West Ham would finish on 42, meaning 43 points were actually needed - the most any side has had to earn to ensure they staved off relegation in the history of the Premier League. Then, in 2010/11, 18th-placed Birmingham City were relegated with 39 points, meaning the magic 40 mark kept Wolves in the Premier League that season.
The amount of points needed for survival has been less than 40 in every campaign bar those four; 29 points is the lowest amount needed to ensure survival after Fulham were relegated on 28 points back in the Covid-19 hit campaign of 2020-21.
31 points were needed back in 2009/10, 34 points were needed on four occasions, 35 on six occasions, 36 twice, 37 five times, 38 once and 39 twice.
This works out at an average of 36.2, so essentially 36, points needed to stay in the Premier League each campaign. With 12 games left to play, Leeds need a further 13 points to put this mark.
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