LastSaturday may have proven to be a crucial day in the title race as Arsenal and Liverpool both seemingly dropped out of it, but it was yet another barmy couple of hours at the other end of the table whereone of the season's more exciting narratives is unfolding.
Far too much time is spent drooling over the so-called 'big six' teams in the league for many people to actually notice what is happening in the fight for survival, but the last month or so really has seen an extraordinary number of twists and turns which could leave as many as eight teams now facing the prospect of relegation.
Are Leicester in the tightest relegation battle ever?
Here are the best stats from the weekend ➡� https://t.co/a3hrPh0rgR pic.twitter.com/PmtY0E5WM3
It was thought at the turn of the year that Swansea and Hull were certainties to be playing Championship football in August.Both were struggling to pick up points and hademployed their third different manager of the season.
However, the respective appointments of Marco Silva on Humberside, and Paul Clement at Swansea, have reinvigorated the twoteams and they are now very much back in contention to retain their Premier League status for another year.
Such has been the nature of this season's unpredictability that no-sooner does a side appear to be slipping through the trap-door, that they find a way of clawing themselves back into contention.
Nothing epitomises that sentiment more than seeing Crystal Palace claim their first league winin nine attemptsbefore capitulating to a shocking 4-0 home defeat to rock bottom Sunderland just days later.
David Moyes' Black Cats have looked toothless for much of the season, yet they ran riot at Selhurst Park and rather bizarrelycould well find themselves out of the relegation zone with victory over Southampton this weekend.
Despite being seven points above the drop zone,Saints themselves deserve to be mentioned in the battle for survival after enduring an ordinary start to2017.
Their EFL Cup heroics are a far cry from their league form and though the arrival ofManolo Gabbiadini may have given fanssomething to cheer, the loss of Virgil Van Dijk through injury, and the recent departure of captain Jose Fonte, has meant they are leaking goals all too easily and could well find themselves sucked into the relegation scrap within the coming weeks.
In-keeping with the theme of the south coast and porous defences, Bournemouth are also in serious danger of undoing all of their good work from earlier this season. The Cherries are yet to win a game in the new yearand seeing top scorer Callum Wilson cruellyruled out for the season with yet another serious knee injury has led to real concern that they too will continue their worrying slide towards the bottom three.
Eddie Howe's men face a wretched run of fixtures over the next few months, so it is highly plausible they will be dragged into a relegation scrap that is proving to be the most exciting in years.
Bournemouth's next 9 fixtures... good luck
City (H)
WBA (A)
United (A)
WHU (H)
Swansea (H)
Saints (A)
Liverpool (A)
Chelsea (H)
Spurs (A)
Just two points separates the bottom six teams in the league and mercifully we have been spared an Aston Villa typescenario where one side sits bottom of the league for the entirety of the campaign and is all-but relegated by Christmas.
With 14 matches remaining in the season, the drama is only going to continue andthis weekend will prove crucial, although not decisive, as there area number of match-ups at the bottom.
As mentioned, Sunderland host Southampton whilstbeleagueredchampions Leicester travel to Swansea, so be prepared for the incessant use of that dreadful 'relegation six-pointer' phrase over the next week as the experts state the blindingobvious about both teams needing to win.
It's all up for grabs in a tightly packed foot of the #PL pic.twitter.com/5K3Q2h4Wj9
Such is the small margin for error amongst those sides though, the bottom half of the table could take up an entirely different complexion come Sunday evening and should results go their way, then basement club Sunderland could be suffering with altitude sickness in 15th place.
It makes predicting the eventual outcome of this fascinating relegation battlesomewhat impossible but as Chelsea soar off into the distance at the top of the table, perhaps the other end of the league will finally be given the limelight it deserves.
None of the current bottom 6 sides in the PL are playing each other on the final day of the season. Some teams' destiny will lie elsewhere.. pic.twitter.com/yVYBlEAfQM
It is, after all, as precarious than ever before and in all reality any of the sides involved could well be relegated in three months time. But whilst that makes great entertainment for the neutral, spare a thought for the those fans caught up in the drama.
They face months of torturous uncertainty and if things stay as tight as they are, then all of the teams near the foot of the tablecould well head into the final game of this season without knowing their fate.