Are Southampton the worst Premier League team ever? | OneFootball

Avoiding relegation from the Premier League as a newly promoted side is one of the toughest tasks in football. As things stand, it seems unlikely any of the teams promoted last season will be able to avoid the drop this year.

However, Southampton have not even put up a valiant effort, as their fate was sealed with 7 games left to be played. They sit on just 10 points, with the lowest-ever point tally in Premier League history being Derby County, who got 11 points in the 2007/08 campaign.

While it might seem unlikely that Southampton fail to eclipse that mark, it's not that much crazier than only having 10 points at this stage of the season. They have a mixed run-in schedule facing elite sides like Manchester City and Arsenal but also some clubs further down the table in Leicester and Everton. It really does seem like a toss-up whether Southampton will manage to reach the measly 12 point-mark to pass Derby all-time.

To be fair to Southampton, the Premier League is incredibly competitive this year, with massive clubs like Tottenham and Manchester United stuck in the bottom half of the table. The bad teams of previous years did not face as high a level of competition and if they were to face off, you would imagine this season's Southampton would come out on top. The amount of money being spent has also never been higher, making it tougher than ever for smaller clubs to recruit a side capable of competing in the division.

With that being said, Southampton really didn't make an effort to put together a side that might've stayed up. They didn't spend the sort of money you need to to be competitive in the league these days and seemed content to write this season off and focus on another promotion-effort next season. While they faced an incredibly difficult task, falling this far short is shockingly poor. Should they fail to get to 11 points, they will be deservingly remembered as the worst side the Premier League has ever seen.