As Watford sit rooted to the foot of the Premier League table with no wins from eight matches, a goal difference of -16 and head coach number two already in the dugout, fans could be forgiven for assuming things are going to be bleak at Vicarage Road come the end of the season.

So far, the Hornets have scored just four goals, conceded 20, including eight in one match, and kept just one clean sheet, suggesting their place in the Premier League could be in the balance.

Fortunately, with the Premier League in its 28th season, there is a wealth of data to look at to help consider how likely it is that Watford will beat the drop and so, using examples from previous campaigns, here is a brief analysis of the Hornets' chances of survival.

An obvious comparison to start with is Watford's previous Premier League seasons, of which there have been six, and this seventh season in the current version of the English top flight has seen the Hornets make their worst start.

In both the 99/00 season and the 06/07 season the club had begun more positively than they have this time around, but still ended in last place.

After eight matches in 99/00 Watford were 14th and had nine points with three wins, no draws and five defeats. They would go on to claim just 15 more points and finish the season with only 24.

The beginning of the 06/07 season bears a closer resemblance with the current campaign, but was still marginally better, as the Hornets were in 19th place after eight games, with four points from four draws. That season they gathered 28 points, which was not enough to prevent them from dropping back down to the Championship.

From the 15/16 season up until the 18/19 season, the Hornets had already amassed double figures points-wise at this stage, with 10, 11, 15 and 13 on the board respectively.

This season has also seen Watford amass their lowest goals tally after eight matches, with five goals in the 99/00 season the fewest scored from their previous campaigns.

None of this makes for comfortable reading and is the reason the Hornets are as low as 11/10 with some bookmakers to end this season in the bottom three.

However, there are plenty of examples of teams in similar situations at this stage going on to survive.

A total of 15 teams have found themselves on just three points after eight matches and of those teams, seven survived and eight were relegated, which shows that the Hornets' fate is by no means sealed already.

In fact, there are some teams who have overcome even worse starts to their seasons, but gone on to retain their top flight status.

Included among those are Southampton in 98/99, who had just one point after eight matches, had scored just three goals and conceded 21. They went on to finish 17th on 41 points.

Spurs had a similarly poor start to the 08/09 campaign when they took just two points from the first 24 available, but ended up finishing eighth with 51 points on the board.

More recently Sunderland escaped relegation twice from bad starts when they overcame a one point from eight games start in the 13/14 season to finish 14th with 38 points and then again when they picked up just three points in eight matches before finishing 17th with 39 points in 15/16.

Similarly, their north east neighbours Newcastle survived the drop last season, despite having just two points at this stage in the campaign. They came a respectable 13th with 45 points.

So there are plenty of examples Watford can look to for inspiration as they look to turn their season around and of the previous 27 seasons, nine of the teams who were bottom after eight games went on to survive, statistically giving the Hornets a one in three chance of surviving, if history is to be repeated.

However, anything is possible in football and last season has shown that Watford aren't necessarily a club interested in duplicating the past.

With a squad that took the club all the way to its first FA Cup final in 35 years and that broke several club records in the Premier League, there is enough talent in the squad to dodge the drop.

At the moment the real problem seems to be with confidence, but in their last game against Sheffield United, Watford showed a togetherness and an ability to work together as a unit.

If they can harness that all-for-one attitude again this season, there's no reason why they cannot beat the odds and maintain their place at the pinnacle of English football.