Aston Villa certainly seem doomed for the drop this season. After a terrible campaign to date, the midlands club sit rock bottom of the Premier League, with just 16 points from 25 games.
Although the table looks rather ominous, Villa fans can take inspiration from other teams to have performed miracles at the wrong end of the table in previous years.
We take a look at the five greatest Premier League great escapes of all time to try and motivate the Villa Park faithful into still believing.
5. Portsmouth FC(2005-2006) -With ten games to play, Portsmouth were eight points from safety. They seemed all but relegated before a stunning volley in extra time from Pedro Mendes earned them a 2-1 win over Manchester City at Fratton Park.This last gasp victory ultimately acted as the catalyst for their survival, as they went on to win six matches from their final ten games. Pompey finished the season on 38 points, four clear of relegated Birmingham City.
4. Fulham FC(2007-2008) -Trailing 2-0 to Manchester City and with 20 minutes to go, Fulham seemed resigned to relegation. However, a heroic display from Diomansy Kamara saw the striker net twice, either side of a Danny Murphy penalty and Fulham remarkably won the match 3-2 with the last kick of the game.The Cottagers went on to win their final two matches, surviving the drop ahead of Reading on goal difference.
3. Wigan Athletic(2011-2012) -Every season that Wigan were in the Premier League, it seemed like an uphill task to stay in the division. The 2011-2012 campaign was no different, and they found themselves in the thick of a relegation battle once again after sitting bottom of the league in February.However, a remarkable 2-1 victory over Liverpool at Anfield sparked a frantic upsurge in results and the Latics went on to win seven matches from their remaining nine.Remarkably, after the final game of the season, Wigan were seven points clear of the drop zone and lived to fight another season.
2. West Bromwich Albion(2004-2005) -West Brom’s escape from relegation during 2004-2005 was nothing short of remarkable. Up until this season, no team that had been bottom of the league at Christmas had gone on to survive the drop. However, The Baggies seemed determined to break that curse.From March onwards, West Brom displayed incredible resilience and picked up three wins from four matches, along with draws away at Manchester United and Aston Villa. Come the final day, the Midlands club knew that a win against Portsmouth, combined with other results going their way, would see them safe.West Brom won the game 2-0 thanks to goals from Geoff Horsfield and Kieran Richardson, and the great escape was completed as other results had fallen in their favour. Southampton, Crystal Palace and Norwich were all relegated, leaving the Baggies to revel in an incredible turnaround.To date, this is the only season where all the three relegation places were to be decided on the final day.
1. Leicester City(2014-2015) -Leicester produced arguably the greatest escape of all time last season. Bottom of the league in March, Nigel Pearson’s men went on an incredible run, winning seven and drawing one of their remaining nine games.Remarkably, the Foxes finished the season in 14th place after beating QPR 6-1 on the final day.The momentum gained from last season’s surge has continued into this campaign and new manager Claudio Ranieri has guided his team to the top of the Premier League after 25 games.The stark contrast from last season to this season is nothing short of incredible, and that’s why the Foxes take the number one spot in our list of greatest Premier League escapes of all time.