Can Chelsea be relegated from Premier League? Frank Lampard leads the Blues to six straight losses

Chelsea are currently sitting 12th in the Premier League after a troubling season which has seen them claim just 39 points after 33 games with only ten wins and fourteen losses. Their last win was back in March when they beat Leicester City 3-1 and more woes were added to their season when they lost 3-1 to Arsenal.

Currently, the Blues are nine points clear of the relegation zone and Frank Lampard has lost his first six games in temporary charge. The ex-Chelsea midfielder was appointed on an interim basis after the sacking of Graham Potter. He is the club’s third manager of the campaign after Thomas Tuchel was surprisingly sacked from his role in September and replaced by Potter.

The Gunners opened up the scoring at the Emirates with Martin Odegaard scoring a brace and Gabriel Jesus adding a third before half-time. Chelsea’s Noni Madueke scored what would prove to be a consolation goal in the 65th minute but it was not enough to secure the necessary three points.

Reports have suggested that the former PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino will take over the reins next season but with nothing being finalised, the caretaker manager has said: “We are at that stage of the season now where we understand that we are not going to get into Europe.

“Other managers are probably going, ‘I’ll take a look at this and wait till pre-season when I can enforce what I want to do.’ It’s not silly on their part - we’ve got the top four in the run-in and that is going to be a difficult process of games. At the same time, do the club’s owners need to take their time to get the right manager? Yeah, they absolutely should do.”

Can Chelsea still be relegated?

While it is unlikely a poor season will result in relegation, Chelsea are still mathematically at risk of the drop. The Blues are nine points clear of the bottom three with Leicester City, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest all on 30 points.

For the Blues to drop into the Championship they would need to be overtaken by two of those clubs with West Ham, Wolves and Bournemouth also needing to climb above them.

The trio of teams on 30 points only have four games remaining each and it is unlikely two of the clubs will pick up 10 points given their form and current points tally.

West Ham on 34 points, Wolves on 37 and Bournemouth on 39 could still finish above Chelsea this term, however. An average of around 36 points has normally been required to survive in the Premier League, with the last team relegated with 39 points Birmingham City in 2011.

In a 38-game season, only three clubs have been relegated with 40 or more points which was West Ham with 42 points in 2002-03, Bolton Wanderers with 40 points 1997-98 and Sunderland with 40 points 1996-97.

Chelsea’s remaining fixtures

The Blues now have five fixtures left in this season’s Premier League fight. Here is their schedule:

• Bournemouth vs Chelsea - Saturday 6 May, 3pm
• Chelsea vs Nottingham Forest - Saturday 13 May, 3pm
• Manchester City vs Chelsea - Sunday 21 May, 4pm
• Manchester United vs Chelsea - Thursday 25 May, 8pm
• Chelsea vs Newcastle - Sunday 28 May, 4.30pm