Everton, Leicester, Leeds At Risk On Premier League’s Survival Sunday
The battle for Premier League survival is the main event of Sunday’s final day of the season as Everton, Leicester and Leeds face a nerve-wracking scrap to avoid relegation.
The two clubs who join already-relegated Southampton in the second tier will be pushed to the financial precipice, with sports business experts Deloitte estimating that a season of Premier League football is worth up to £170 million ($210 million).
Everton can ill-afford that hit with the Toffees already seeking external investment just to be able to complete the club’s new stadium.
They are the one side in full control of their own fate as victory at home to Bournemouth will extend their stay in the top flight to 70 years.
However, Sean Dyche’s men have won just once in 10 games and will be without talismanic striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin to offer Leicester and Leeds hope.
“We want the players to focus on the game,” said Dyche on Friday. “It’s not as easy as it sounds but that’s the idea: focus on what’s going on the pitch and don’t worry about all the noise.
“Don’t worry about all the rumours, don’t worry about anything that’s going on off the pitch.”
If fourth-bottom Everton fail to win, third-bottom Leicester can survive by beating West Ham at home thanks to their superior goal difference.
Seven years ago, the Foxes were celebrating the most unlikely of title triumphs.
That kicked off a glorious era as they finished fifth in back-to-back seasons in 2019/20 and 2020/21 and won the FA Cup for the first time just two years ago under Brendan Rodgers.
Mayny believed a squad boasting the talents of James Maddison, Youri Tielemans and Harvey Barnes was too good to go down.
But the fairytale has turned into a nightmare this season as Rodgers bemoaned a lack of investment to refresh the squad before he was sacked in April.
Dean Smith has been unable to mastermind a turnaround in fortunes with just one win in his seven games in charge.
“We have to win the game and not look at the Everton result until after the game,” said Smith. “We have to do our job and see where it takes us.”
