Southampton are currently bottom of the Premier League table, but how many teams have survived relegation despite being bottom at Christmas?
Southampton are down but they are not out. With new manager Ivan Juric at the helm, there is a renewed sense of urgency and more importantly, a renewed belief at the club.
The Croatian manager is not naive. He knew before taking on the job the gigantic and seemingly unachievable task ahead of him. Yet, he took on the role and he is hopeful to make history at Southampton.
But, what are Southampton's chances of avoiding relegation? Let's take a look at past data.
How many teams survived Premier League relegation while bottom at Christmas?
According to data from Opta Analyst, only four teams have survived relegation while bottom of the table at Christmas, since the Premier League era begun in 1992.
The only four teams to survive relegation at the end of season while bottom at Christmas are West Brom who finished 17th in 2004-05, Sunderland 14th in 2013-14, Leicester who finished 14th in 2014-15 and Wolves who finished 13th in 2022-23.
So, the highest any team ever finished while being bottom of the table on Christmas day is 13th, achieved by Wolves in 2022-23. Wolves were the last team to ever do it.
While the odds are slim and historical data doesn't lean entirely in Southampton's favour, it does show that it's possible and it's been done before. Ivan Juric will certainly look at this with optimism and he will in no doubt have relayed these stats to his peers at Southampton.
However, we would be remiss if we did not mention that Southampton have less points than any of the four "great escape" teams. All four of the teams who avoided relegation had 10 points on Christmas day. Southampton, on the other hand, have just 6.
Let's hope for a Christmas miracle - It would only make the great escape even more impressive if the Saints do pull it off. Have a great Christmas, everyone!