Leeds United ended their 16-day wait for a Premier League fixture last night with a goalless draw against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. The point means that Jesse Marsch's side now sit five points clear of the drop zone, but with a challenging fixture list coming up, fans' nerves will be easing just yet.
Since Leeds' 3-0 win at Watford earlier this month, it has been all change in the battle to beat the drop, with Burnley having picked up seven points from their last three matches to move up to 17th. Everton are now the side who find themselves in the bottom three as the Toffees continue to struggle away from Goodison Park.
With it now looking as tight as ever at the bottom, here is some analysis on each of Leeds, Burnley and Everton’s remaining fixtures, including the average position of their remaining opponents.
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Leeds United – 16th
30/04 – Man City (h)
08/05 – Arsenal (a)
11/05 – Chelsea (h)
15/05 – Brighton (h)
22/05 – Brentford (a)
Average position of remaining opponents: 6.2
On paper, Leeds have the most difficult run-in with three of the top four still left to play, including league leaders Manchester City. The Whites will be hopeful of picking up some points from the matches with City, Arsenal and Chelsea, but their final two matches look to be offer more realistic prospects of the one or two wins that could make the difference.
Burnley – 17th
30/04 – Watford (a)
07/05 – Aston Villa (h)
15/05 – Tottenham (a)
19/05 – Aston Villa (a)
22/05 – Newcastle (h)
Average position of remaining opponents: 12.6
According to the average position of their remaining opponents, Burnley have the easiest run-in with only Tottenham from the top eight left to play. With Leeds playing City, Everton hosting Chelsea and Burnley making the trip to Watford this weekend, the Clarets could see this as another huge opportunity to pull away from danger.
Their most crucial part of the run-in, though, could be their quickfire double against Aston Villa, who themselves will be keen for a good end to the season after dropping to 15th.
Everton – 18th
01/05 – Chelsea (h)
08/05 – Leicester (a)
11/05 – Watford (a)
15/05 – Brentford (h)
19/05 – Crystal Palace (h)
22/05 – Arsenal (a)
Average position of remaining opponents: 10.3
After this weekend’s home match with Chelsea, Everton will target the next four fixtures as their opportunity to escape from danger. The Toffees face a trip to Leicester just three days after the Foxes face the second leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final with Roma, before facing Watford, Brentford and Crystal Palace.
Anything less than two victories from that run of matches could be curtains for Everton, who head to Arsenal on the last game of the season.
