Half of the Barclays Premier League are yet to hit the fabled 40 points needed to renew membership for next season . But only once in the past decade — Wolves in 2011 — has a team required that total to avoid the drop . Rather , Sportsmail has calculated that the magic number is just 36 . Since the turn of the millennium and the establishment of a hierarchy within the top flight — meaning more points are distributed higher up the table — the average of the club finishing third from bottom has been a shade above 35 . Struggling duo QPR and Leicester look destined to be heading for the Championship at the end of the season . The current bottom six of the Premier League . That being the case , you can assume that every team upwards of 13th-placed West Brom , on 33 points , will be feeding off the Premier League cash cow come August . Indeed , this weekend saw the bottom six all lose and a points-per-game projection would have all of them finishing the campaign on fewer than 36 . But with Leicester and QPR looking increasingly doomed , it is Aston Villa , Hull , Sunderland and Burnley battling to avoid that final spot . Hull City ( Odds on being relegated : 5/2 ) Run-in : Swansea ( a ) , Southampton ( a ) , Liverpool ( h ) , Crystal Palace ( a ) , Arsenal ( h ) , Burnley ( h ) , Tottenham ( a ) , Man Utd ( h ) . Without back-to-back wins over QPR and Aston Villa — inspired by deadline-day arrival Dame N ’ Doye — Hull would be odds-on for the drop . Just look at their daunting run-in . Remember Norwich City 12 months ago ? At this juncture they were 13th and seven points clear of the bottom three . But one point from their final seven matches — which included games against the top four — saw them demoted to the Championship . Steve Bruce ’ s side finish with a trip to Spurs and the visit of Manchester United and they ’ ll want to be clear of trouble come the final fortnight . Verdict : They might scramble to about 34 points , and that should be enough , just . Tom Huddlestone ( right ) will be hoping his side can climb the table during the final batch of league fixtures . Aston Villa ( Odds on being relegated : 7/2 ) Run-in : Man Utd ( a ) , QPR ( h ) , Tottenham ( a ) , Man City ( a ) , Everton ( h ) , West Ham ( h ) , Southampton ( a ) , Burnley ( h ) . If the bounce factor of Tim Sherwood ’ s arrival falls flat , a deflated Villa could soon be sucked back into serious trouble . Three of the next four are at Old Trafford , White Hart Lane and the Etihad and that , you would think , will throw up zero points . There is also the complicating factor of an FA Cup semi-final . Verdict : Home games against QPR , West Ham and Burnley will decide their fate — if they take six points from these and a draw elsewhere , then they should be fine . Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke has scored six goals for the Midlands outfit so far this season . Sunderland ( Odds on being relegated : 5/4 ) Run-in : Newcastle ( h ) , Crystal Palace ( h ) , Stoke ( a ) , Southampton ( h ) , Everton ( a ) , Leicester ( h ) , Arsenal ( a ) , Chelsea ( a ) . Sunderland were better during Dick Advocaat ’ s first game in charge at West Ham . However , it still ended in defeat . And given that they see out the campaign with trips to Arsenal and Chelsea , the Dutch boss probably has six games to save the season and preserve his record of never having been relegated . Supposed January saviour Jermain Defoe is misfiring and the Black Cats have scored just once in 11 hours . Verdict : The club should have realised that they were heading for a relegation battle far sooner . Fail to win the Tyne-Wear derby on Easter Sunday and they could be set on a downward spiral which will surely end in the Championship . Sunderland signed Jermain Defoe in hope that he can score the goals to fire the Black Cats to safety . Burnley ( Odds on being relegated : 10/11 ) Run-in : Tottenham ( h ) , Arsenal ( h ) , Everton ( a ) , Leicester ( h ) , West Ham ( a ) , Hull ( a ) , Stoke ( h ) , Aston Villa ( a ) A recent victory over Manchester City and a draw at Chelsea shows that Sean Dyche ’ s men show little regard for reputations and that spirit will serve them well as the stakes increase during the closing weeks . Crucially , they play three of their relegation rivals and , to that end , their fate remains in their own hands . Verdict : If Burnley can take eight points from eight games then it could well prove enough and Dyche would be shortlisted for Manager of the Year recognition . Burnley striker Danny Ings is attracting interest from some of the Premier League 's big boys . SPORTSMAIL PREDICTION ... 15th — Aston Villa ( 35 pts ) 16th — Hull City ( 34 pts ) 17th — Burnley ( 33 pts ) 18th — Sunderland ( 32 pts )
Leicester and Queens Park Rangers look destined to be relegated . Burnley currently occupy 18th spot with 25 points from 30 matches . Aston Villa Sunderland are above the relegation zone with 26 points . Dick Advocaat 's and Hull have both ascertained 28 points from 30 games .