Five great Premier League escapes Huddersfield can try to replicate

Following on from last night’s 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, Huddersfield Town are in that tricky spot where they can’t give up on their season, but they’re also 99% relegated.

It got us thinking about the greatest Premier League escapes and where the Terriers would rank if they pulled it out of the fire from here. The common trend among these escapes is the occasional sprinkling of talent in their squad – something there truly isn’t a lot of at Huddersfield.

Are they the worst Premier League squad of all time? It’s a close-run thing with Derby and Sunderland from years back, but we reckon just about.

Here are the sides whose exploits they’ll have to replicate if they’re to stick around for longer than two seasons.

Leicester City (2014-15)

With ten games to go, the Foxes were done for. They were written off by every pundit you can think of, and with good cause to be fair.

Seven wins from their last nine games ensured one of the best Premier League turnarounds imaginable. The change in form was admirable enough in or itself, but when, in hindsight, you can assess what happened after this season, it feels even more important as a predecessor to a Premier League title.

Ultimately, the sword would fall on QPR, Burnley and Hull City. Leicester finished 14th.

Wigan Athletic (2011-12)

This season was bizarre.

With ten games to go, Wigan Athletic were bottom, but still only a single point from safety. Countless teams were in battle to avoid the drop, but it was Wigan’s run-in that made this escape truly remarkable. They beat Arsenal, Manchester United, hammered Newcastle 4-0, while they were on the cusp of the top four and were cruelly denied a point against Chelsea by a late winner.

Wigan would end up avoiding relegation by seven points – already confirming safety before the final two games of the season. That’s doing it in style.

West Ham United (2006-07)

Carlos Tevez – you know the rest. With ten games to go, West Ham were ten points adrift and rock bottom. They would play five of the top six during their run-in and somehow managed to slip past three other teams.

Now, the signings of Javier Mascherano and Tevez were hotly-contested as third-party ownership rules breached Premier League regulations, but they were afforded the right to play and Mr. Tevez did just that.

The Argentine’s winner at Old Trafford on the final day is one of the great Premier League moments.

Portsmouth (2005-06)

Eight points from safety and shouldering one of the worst kits of all time, Pompey were dead to rights. But Harry Redknapp was their manager, so you know how this ends.

Alain Perrin lost his job midway through the season and Harry came swooping in. There were three wins in a row over Man City, West Ham and Fulham before a draw at home Arsenal.

A loss to Charlton was the only bump on the road to safety – a comfort that was secured prior to final day defeat at the hands of Liverpool.

Fulham (2007-08)

With ten games to go, Fulham were six points adrift of safety. This doesn’t sound that dramatic, but it gets far more dramatic when you realise that they were still six points from safety with five games to go.

Roy Hodgson led the charge this time, a perennial miracle worker outside of Liverpool, and a dramatic 3-2 win over Manchester City at Eastlands was their biggest moment.

In the end, they stayed up by three goals on goal difference, including a final day win at Portsmouth.