19 games done (apart from some mid table kickabouts tomorrow).
Last year the 18th placed team had 16 points, now it's 12.
Burnley had 32 points, now they have 12.
Huddersfield had 22 points, now they have 10.
Man City had 55, now they have 44.
Liverpool had 35, now they have 51.
Everton had 26, now they have...27.
We were 13th and Stoke were 14th (both on 19) but clearly both ended up in the bottom 4. Which is more points than we will have this time round. But it's hard to see so many teams having such a chance of going down this year. Huddersfield and Burnley will start to get into miracle territory by the end of Jan. Hopefully we will actually be good at the football from now on. Newcastle have a 5 point cushion, and 5/6 of their games against the bottom 7 are at home (the other one is Fulham away on the last day).
I can't really see a way that this isn't Fulham v Cardiff for a 17th/18th placed race to that 31 point safety mark.