The Premier League season is now approaching the halfway stage and it is Chelsea who are leading the way.

Antonio Conte’s men are currently on an eleven-game winning streak and will be six points clear at the top of the Premier League table for Christmas.

Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United are not too far behind them and the second-half of the season should definitely provide excitement.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, some teams are serious struggling and it is Hull City, Swansea City and Sunderland who occupy spaces in the relegation zone.

Whilst those who are struggling can bolster their squads throughout January, the main thing that they will want is points on the board and this will be as good a Christmas present as any.

The festive period is always full of fixtures and tends to be a time that can provide a trigger for an upturn in form.

This is something that these teams at the bottom desperately need and if they can pick up just one vital victory, this could be enough to change their fortunes for the entire season.

With this in mind, here are five teams that Shoot! think must improve after Christmas in order to avoid a relegation battle… 

Hull City

Photo: Mark Leech / Offside.

Expectations were low for Hull City fans coming into this season after a summer in which manager Steve Bruce quit, a take-over of the club collapsed and, at one stage, the club had just nine senior players on their books.

Despite winning the opening two fixtures of the season against Champions Leicester City and Swansea City, things haven’t gone too well since then with Mike Phelan’s side picking up just one victory in the following 15 league games.

This leaves Hull bottom of the Premier League table with only 12 points and a goal difference of minus 22.

The bad news continues for the club as standout performer and leading goalscorer Robert Snodgrass has just rejected a new contract at the club and could be on his way out in January.

Whilst they definitely must improve after Christmas, it seems more than likely that The Tigers will still occupy one of the relegation spots come the end of the season.

Sunderland

Photo: Paul Roberts / Offside.

The start of the season definitely did not go to plan for Sunderland and they managed the worst 10-game start to a season in Premier League history, losing eight games and drawing two.

Whilst they are still in the bottom three, David Moyes’ side have won four of their last seven games and are now only one point from safety.

This is largely impressive as The Black Cats could have been as good as relegated by now, but the ex-Everton and Manchester United boss has done well to steady the ship since taking over the reigns in the summer.

Those at the Stadium of Light are used to leaving their great escape from relegation right down to the wire, but they will be hoping for a different run-in in this campaign.

This is still a big task to manage but if they invest in January and stick with the Scot leading the way, then they should be able to pull of another year of Premier League survival.

Leicester City

Photo: Simon Stacpoole / Offside.

Champions Leicester City have only managed 17 points from their opening 17 games, winning four times, drawing five and losing on eight occasions – almost three times more than they did in the entirety of the 2015-16 season.

The side from the King Power Stadium have reached nowhere near the heights that they did last season and are in 15th place, only three points off the relegation zone.

However, if The Foxes were to bring their Champions League form to the Premier League, then they would have absolutely nothing to worry about as they finished top of their group and qualified for the last-16.

The main issues that the Premier League Champions face is that their PFA Player of the Year Riyad Mahrez is not performing, their away form is atrocious and they will be missing a lot of players in upcoming games due to suspension and the African Cup of Nations.

Manager Claudio Ranieri will need to keep tinkering should he want to avoid a relegation battle come the end of the season.

Crystal Palace

Photo: Simon Stacpoole / Offside.

At the start of this campaign, Crystal Palace’s prospects were promising. They had just splashed out £43m on Christian Benteke and Andros Townsend, they’d beaten stiff competition to land Chelsea’s Loic Remy on loan and they’d narrowly missed out on lifting the FA Cup to Manchester United.

You might just say that things haven’t quite gone according to plan this season though.

Palace are just one point off the relegation zone, have won once in their last ten games. An extended look back at The Eagles’ poor run of form sees Palace have won just six times in 36 matches.

So much so, boss Alan Pardew was given the chop on December 22, Merry Christmas ‘Pards’!

But a managerial change might just be what the South London outfit need to step up their game after Christmas.

Ex-England manager Sam Allardyce is the favourite to take over at Selhurst Park, with Palace set to face Watford on Boxing Day.

Swansea City

Photo: Paul Roberts / Offside.

Swansea City are in real trouble.

Francesco Guidolin lasted until October and their fortunes have not improved under the recently appointed Bob Bradley, who is the club’s fourth manager in three seasons – and fans are already calling for his head.

The Swans are second from bottom in the Premier League and have taken only 12 points from 17 games.

With their squad and their style of play, the Welsh side should certainly be far higher in the league than where they are and they will need to be backed by their new US owners in the January transfer window if they are to manage to steer clear of relegation.

Defensive reinforcements need to be high on Bradley’s list of priorities once the window opens as his side have conceded 37 times already this season – the most in the league so far.

The next few weeks are pivotal for the club and if they get it wrong, they might just find themselves sliding down the Football League once again.