According to UEFA’s coefficient ranking system, the English Premier League is the best domestic competition in world football.
It’s why those in the relegation battle fight so desperately to retain their top-flight status, and why promotion from the Championship is the Holy Grail of club football; the teams involved will net around $200 million – or ₵2.3 billion.
There’s plenty on the line in the final weeks of the 2022/23 season, with some Ghanaian Black Stars in the thick of it.
Play-Off Peril
The two automatic promotion places in the Championship have already been filled by Burnley and Sheffield United.
That leaves just one more promotion place available via the playoffs, where the teams ranked third to sixth compete for a spot in the Wembley shootout. Middlesbrough (13/8) and Luton Town (2/1) lead the way in the Championship odds for promotion via the play-off final, ahead of the likes of Coventry City (5/1), Millwall (7/1) and Sunderland (14/1).
The pre-season football betting tips columns suggested that Ghanaian duo Baba Rahman and Andy Yiadom had to be more worried about relegation than promotion at Reading, and that has proven to be the case.
The Royals have been deducted six points for admitting financial irregularities, and that – allied to poor form – could see the Black Stars relegated to the third tier.
So three clubs will be promoted to the Premier League and replace the trio that is relegated from the top flight, and a handful of Ghanaian players have been embroiled in that hotly-contested dogfight.
Heading for the Trapdoor
Andre Ayew’s long stint as a Premier League star could be coming to an end if Nottingham Forest are unable to pull away from the dropzone.
The 33-year-old’s future could be in doubt at a club that spent more than $200 million on new signings this season in a bid to stave off relegation. How will Forest look to balance the books in the Championship?
Ayew could be joined in the second tier by Daniel Amartey, who plays his club football at the similarly relegation-threatened Leicester City. Given how close the battle is at the bottom of the Premier League, it’s not impossible that both Black Stars could slip through the trapdoor.
There’s been better news for another pair of Ghanaians. Jordan Ayew and Jeffrey Schlupp ply their trade for Crystal Palace, who were also in the thick of the relegation battle not that long ago.
But the Eagles’ decision to re-hire their former manager, Roy Hodgson, has proven to be a savvy one. He has guided them to four wins in his first six games, all but ending fears of the dreaded drop, with Ayew and Schlupp both on the scoresheet in an entertaining 4-3 victory over West Ham. That saw them climb the Premier League table to safety.
As for the older Ayew brother and Amartey, their destiny will be known in the next few weeks.