Will Wolves pull off the Premier League’s greatest escape?

Wolves will have to make Premier League history to avoid relegation.

Rob Edwards’ side have won their past two games – against Aston Villa and Liverpool – but remain bottom, 12 points from safety with a vastly inferior goal difference.

They have also played a game more than their rivals and, according to Opta, have a 99.9% chance of relegation to the Championship, which will end their eight-year stay in the top flight.

In 2004-05 neighbours West Brom became the first team in the Premier League era to survive after being bottom at Christmas.

West Ham finished 15th in 2007-08 after being eight points from safety after 30 games – the furthest a side have been from safety at this stage of the season and survived.

In 2014-15 Leicester won seven of their final nine games to go from bottom with eight games left to 15th – then stunned the world to win the title the following season.

Wolves will need four wins to draw level with Nottingham Forest and West Ham in 17th and 18th respectively, while hoping their fellow strugglers do not pick up a point.

Another victory at Brentford next Monday would give Wolves more momentum.

Wolves had only three points at the start of the year, but has Edwards given them hope, however improbable?

He lost his opening eight games after replacing Vitor Pereira in November, taking a first point in a draw at Manchester United in December.

Since then, including the result at Old Trafford, Wolves have earned 13 points in 12 games.

It is not enough to put them within touching distance of safety given the gap – which grew to 16 points at one stage – but 13 points is the same haul as Brighton and Newcastle in that time, and two short of fourth-placed Aston Villa.

Wolves are 12th in the form table over the past five games and 15th over the past 10.

They have lost five of their past 15 games in all competitions, a significant upturn after losing 17 of their opening 21 this season.

In Tuesday’s 2-1 win over Liverpool they restricted the misfiring champions to 0.62 xG (expected goals).

Only leaders Arsenal have managed to limit Liverpool to fewer chances in open play, with 0.28 xG in the Reds’ past 16 games.

Liverpool gained revenge in Friday’s 3-1 FA Cup victory.

Running stats have also improved considerably and Wolves have outrun Liverpool, Chelsea, United, Everton, West Ham, Forest and Villa since the change in management.

Previously, the squad had managed it only twice, including running only 180m more than Brighton during their 1-1 draw in October.

The squad covered 113,508m in this month’s home win over Villa, the fifth highest of the season, having run 114,427m coming from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Arsenal at Molineux.

That was the second highest mark of the season and collectively they are running 7.8k on average higher – around an hour for a midfielder – under Edwards.

With the former Middlesbrough boss, who gave up a Championship promotion campaign for a relegation battle, Wolves now also commit the most fouls in the league per game, having previously been in the bottom two.

“We have a bare minimum – our non-negotiables,” said Edwards. “Sprint recoveries, work ethic, duels. The sprint effort is now night and day.

“We are in control of those things. We can’t always promise we will be great with the ball – we might make mistakes – but what we can control is how hard you run and work.

Wolves have to go to West Ham and Burnley, on the final day, while they welcome Tottenham – who are only a point above the bottom three after Thursday’s 3-1 defeat by Crystal Palace – in April.

Wolves do not play a team currently in the top six in their final eight games and Edwards’ side will have a huge say in who goes down, even with the odds stacked against them.

Their 19-game winless start, a Premier League record, means they would also need to eclipse the 2021-22 Newcastle team, who went 14 games without a win at the start of the season but survived.

Edwards said: “We want to go into every game and win. The position we’re in is obviously really difficult.

“You never want to give up hope, but let’s be realistic and see where we’re at.

“At the moment the focus is trying to improve, trying to win every game. But even if it [relegation] happens with games to go, we’ll fight because we have to.

“We owe it to ourselves and our families to work extremely hard. In the Premier League, it’s global – everyone is watching.