Norwich City became the first side relegated from this season’s Premier League last weekend after a 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday.
Goals either side of half-time from Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings secured a win for Steven Gerrard’s side, as well as finalising Norwich’s fate, with the Canaries spending all of the season in danger of yet another top-flight relegation to their growing list.
Watford, in 19 th , are just a point ahead of bottom-place Norwich and unless the Hornets win away at Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon, their impending return to the Championship will be confirmed this weekend.
That leaves three teams battling to avoid finishing in the final relegation spot, with Burnley (16 th ), Leeds United (17 th ) and Everton (18 th ) as the sides fiercely competing in the final weeks of the season to avoid the drop.
While Everton are currently most in danger of getting relegated due to being sat in the bottom three at present, they do have more of a chance to pick up points than both Burnley and Leeds. The Toffees have five games remaining in their season, with the Clarets and the Whites have just four games left this season.
Since Frank Lampard’s arrival, Everton have picked up 13 points in the Premier League. However, all of those have been at Goodison Park and of Everton ’s final five games, just two of them are at home. Their next two fixtures are both on the road against Leicester City (May 8) and Watford (May 11), who are likely to be relegated before the Toffees face them.
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After the away double header, Everton do have the luxury of back-to-back home games against London duo Brentford (May 15) and Palace (May 19), before heading to fellow Londoners and Champions League hopefuls Arsenal (May 22) on the final day of the season. On paper, a favourable run-in, with an average opposition of 12 th place and Everton do not face a top half side until the final day of the season.
Burnley have been in excellent form since sacking Sean Dyche, with replacement and caretaker boss Mike Jackson taking the Clarets to a run of ten points from a possible 12 in their last four games. Their final fixtures come against Aston Villa (May 7), Tottenham Hotspur (May 15), a returning meeting with Villa (May 19) and Newcastle United (May 22), with Burnley’s final opponents having an average position of 10.25.
Leeds were drawn right back into the relegation picture at the weekend with Burnley beating Watford and Everton beating Chelsea. While they have been in good form, a 4-0 defeat to league leaders Manchester City dropped them to 17 th and only two points clear of Everton.
Their final four fixtures start with meetings against two of the top four, facing a trip to Arsenal (May 8) before hosting Chelsea (May 11) three days later. Their final home game of the campaign is against Brighton and Hove Albion (May 15), a week before a trip to Brentford on the final day of the season (May 22).
The average position of Leeds’ final four opponents is just 7.5, with meetings against three of the top nine coming before the final day of the season. On paper, Everton have the easiest run in and more games, with Leeds having the toughest set of fixtures, but the Toffees must overcome their woeful away form to stand a chance of survival.
