How Many Points Does Stoke City Need To Avoid Relegation?
After winning 3-1 against Swansea on the road on Tuesday, The Potters have now opened a nine point cushion between the club and relegation position at 17th on the table — The hope moving forward for fans and the club is that this lead holds and Stoke City can remain safe in the Championship this season. And that maybe even Stoke City can move up the table and make things interesting at some point this season.
But at the end of the day of course, Stoke City’s main focus at the very least this season is to stay up in the Championship. And then challenge for promotion next season once again. So how many points the rest of the way this season will it take for Stoke City to be safe from relegation?
To answer that question we’ll look back at recent history in the Championship. And the answer could be either less or more then you think…
How Many Points Do Stoke City Need Moving Forward to Remain Safe?
Of course for the rest of the season Stoke City should be trying to grab as many points as possible. Afterall, if Stoke City were to win every match they have remaining (although an unrealistic expectation), the club would most definitely be safe from relegation and then some.
But again that’s not a realistic expectation for The Potters moving forward. Sadly like they have so far this season, the club is bound to have some letdown matches in their remaining fixtures in the 2022-2023 season.
So many points does Stoke City realistically need to probably safe this season and how many points is that for the rest of the season? The answer depends on how competitive the league remains for the rest of the season.
For the last three seasons in the Championship, the following three point totals were what the 22nd team on the table achieved and were subsequently relegated: 37 – Peterborough United last season, 43 – Wycombe two seasons ago, and 48 – Charlton Athletic in the season before that.
Translation with these numbers, Stoke City might already be safe or they might be very close to being safe if the last two season’s historical point totals remain true. At 40 points Stoke City are already of course past 37. And also at 40, The Potters are just three points away from 43 points.
Now the outlier is Charlton Athletic’s 48 points three seasons ago. If that’s where the bottom team on the table ends up this season, then Stoke City would still need 8 points to clear that hurdle.
But even if 8 points are still needed, The Potters are somewhat close to that total as well. So basically barring an utter collapse moving forward in the second half of the season, The Potters might already be safe or close to being safe.
In short, Stoke City might need anywhere from 0 points to 9 points in their remaining matches this season to stay safe. Of course if any of the bottom three teams get hot and grab a ton of wins moving forward, that could mean Stoke City need more points to remain safe.
However, again history tells us that bad teams usually don’t gain a lot of points. And that should mean good news for Stoke City with their 13 matches remaining.