ASTON VILLA are hoping the ‘Curse of Christmas’ can be avoided for only the fourth time in Premier League history.
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| Joleon Lescott's Aston Villa are currently bottom with just seven points |
Remi Garde’s team are 10 points off 17th place Newcastle and look destined for Championship football next season.
Traditionally whoever sits bottom of the Premier League on Christmas Day get relegated come the end of the season.
It has only been avoided three times since the Premier League was formed 22 seasons ago.
West Brom were first to achieve the great escape in 2004-05. They gained 24 points from their remaining 19 games, and despite being bottom going in to the final day of the season they stayed up as Crystal Palace, Norwich and Southampton went down.
In 2013, Sunderland were bottom at Christmas with just 10 points.
A horrendous start under Paolo Di Canio and poor summer recruitment left mid-season appointment Gus Poyet with a mountain to climb to retain the Black Cats' Premier League status.
They looked to have fallen off the edge several times, but a magnificent end to a poor campaign kept them up.
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| Remi Garde took over from Tim Sherwood in October |
And just last season Leicester pulled off their own great escape, after picking up 19 points from their last 24 on offer. This year the Foxes are top of the table on Christmas Day.
But worryingly for Aston Villa these three sides all had 10 points, whereas Garde’s only have seven.
The club haven’t won since the opening day of the season and there has not been a change of fortune since Garde took over from Tim Sherwood.
Things look bleak at Villa Park but the Baggies, Sunderland and Leicester have proved the club can still dream of a Happy New Year.
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