40 no longer the magic number in football?

Every season in the Premier League 40 points is set as the benchmark target to avoid relegation. Ask the manager of any team outside of the top five or six what their target is at the start of the season and they’ll say “40 points”. Ever since the Premier League became a division that consists of 20 teams, 40 points is the magic number. However, this season has been the tightest for a number of years with no team being cut adrift at the bottom. So, the question is, will 40 points be enough?

A few weeks ago I’d have said ‘no’ but following results in recent weeks and Wolves’ defeat to Stoke, it now looks like 40 points will be enough. The likes of Newcastle, Sunderland and Aston Villa have already made it to the hallowed mark, which now looks further and further away from West Ham, Wolves, Wigan, Blackpool and Blackburn. They’d all snap your hands off if you offered them 40 points now and it seems that the bookies agree that 40 points will be more than enough to avoid the dreaded drop.

bet365 are 4/6 about the side finishing in 18th ending the 2010/11 Premier League campaign with less than 38.5 points. bet365 spokesman Steve Freeth says “The sides at the bottom aren’t winning games and time is running out.” As the end of the season approaches, three points is becoming more and more like gold dust, and a victory for any of the bottom clubs will propel them out of the relegation zone.

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As it stands West Ham prop up the rest on 32 points, while Wolves have 33, Wigan and Blackpool are on 34 and Blackburn rest far from easily on 35. Two wins for any of those five teams will get them close to, if not over the magical 40 points mark, and with four games to go, victories in half of those will represent a good end to the season. It’s odds on (4/6) that the team finishing 18th will have 38 points or less. So is 40 points still the magical number? It sure is!

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