Everton have four games left to secure Premier League survival. Is their 69-year stay in England’s top flight about to end?
“I think Everton will go down,” said BBC Sport’s football expert Chris Sutton. “Their last two games, against Wolves and Bournemouth, give them hope but they won’t be easy. Before that, I don’t see them getting anything against Brighton or Manchester City.”
Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches this season, against a variety of guests.
This weekend he is taking on actor and musician Andrew Gower, star of Victorian fantasy drama Carnival Row and an Everton fan.
Gower’s band Gustaffson have a new single, Northern Baby – their first release since their debut EP, The Jacaranda, which was record of the week on Guy Garvey’s Finest Hour show on BBC 6 Music.
Gower is going to the Toffees’ game at Brighton on Monday and is desperate to see them end their seven-game winless streak, which continued with a 2-2 draw at Leicester in their last match.
He told BBC Sport: “We just can’t get these wins over the line and time is running out.
“We’ve had some good results in the last few weeks and have played quite well at times but we are just not beating anyone. The big moments in games are going against us, and all those missed opportunities are costing us.
“I look at the games we’ve got left and wonder where that will change. We left it until the last day last season, but this time we really need to get a win beforehand too – hopefully it is at the Amex!”
| Everton’s remaining Premier League games 2022-23 | |
|---|---|
| Home | Away |
| Man City (Sun, 14 May) | Brighton (Mon, 8 May) |
| Bournemouth (Sun, 28 May) | Wolves (Sat, 20 May) |
Gower believes Everton’s lack of strategy, especially compared with teams such as Brighton or Brentford, is behind their struggles.
“We have five permanent managers in the past five years, not including Duncan Ferguson’s stints as caretaker boss, and taken a completely different direction each time we’ve changed,” Gower added.
“Carlo Ancelotti’s departure to Real Madrid in 2021 was unexpected but we replaced him with Rafael Benitez, who the fans didn’t want, which is when a lot of people lost faith in the board, myself included.
“It often gets misconstrued in the media, but a lot of what the Everton fans are unhappy about now is how exhausted they are from that period – the Rafa Benitez summer when he took charge, up until Frank Lampard took over at the start of 2022.
“I was honestly so relieved whenever we had an international break then because I just didn’t have to think about Everton.
“We had to go through all of that and then, under Frank Lampard, had one of the craziest seasons of survival there has ever been – and I remember the Gareth Farrelly goal against Coventry that kept us up on goal difference in 1998, which is one of my earliest memories.
“For the same to happen again this year, and be in such deep trouble again, is down to an amazing lack of foresight from the board and some terrible decisions.
“We have paid an enormous amount for players heading into their 30s but have never strengthened the squad in the right way, and the way the club has been run ever since Farhad Moshiri arrived in 2016 is just unbelievable really.
“We are on to our third director of football since 2016 and there is no continuity with anything we try to do. I remember the first summer we kind of had an open chequebook, in 2017, we went out and signed four number 10s.
“I live in London now so I go to a lot of games down here and, when I went to watch Fulham against Tottenham earlier this season, I sat there and thought to myself ‘so why are Fulham doing so much better than us?’ and a lot of it comes down to the fact that they are a proper team, who have got a plan.
“Every single one of their players was pulling together and, no matter how good or bad they were, they all knew their jobs. That’s the biggest difference between them and us.
“I think for a few years now, Everton have, technically, been the worst team in the top flight. Add that together with everything else and I think you can see why everything has caught up with us.”
Bournemouth v Chelsea (15:00 BST)
Tuesday’s defeat at Arsenal made it ‘six of the worst’ for Chelsea boss Frank Lampard, who has lost all of his games since being appointed caretaker manager.
The players have to take some responsibility but nothing has gone right for Lampard. He felt his side were better in the second half at Emirates Stadium, but the game was over by then – and now Chelsea just want the season to end.
Things won’t get any easier for them against Bournemouth, who are a well-organised team containing several individuals who have really enhanced their reputation over the past few months.
For example, Dominic Solanke got 29 goals in the Championship last season and now he has shown he has got all the attributes he needs to thrive in the Premier League too. He always had decent pace but he leads the line so well now, holding the ball up and linking up with others – he has been first class.
So, I don’t think Frank will get his first win, but I can see him picking up a point. That prediction is based more on the level and experience of the players Chelsea have got, rather than their recent performances. They surely cannot lose seven in a row… or can they?
Source – BBC Sport
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