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BUSINESS NEWS - Everton has slipped deeper into trouble but is one of the fixtures and fittings of the Premier League about to be relegated?
In a huge game in the Premier League, Burnley battled to a stunning 3–2 win over Everton in one of the most enthralling and important games of the season.
For Burnley it was a massive three points that saw them jump up to 18th in the league with 24 points, one point short of Everton.
The win was a major shot in the arm for Burnley, and it was about as damaging a loss as Everton could take. Frank Lampard’s men were indebted to Richarlison twice from the penalty spot. However, his contribution was not enough, with Everton falling to an 18th defeat of the season.
This loss now has people seriously asking whether Everton will go down, and whether they are too good to go down. And many football tipping sites think it could well happen.
As a manager, Frank Lampard has managed Derby County, Chelsea and now Everton. Despite being one of the finest English players to ever don the famous white jersey, Lampard is struggling to establish himself as a manager.
However, there were question marks over his appointment as manager because he is a relatively inexperienced manager. It is worth noting that Marco Silva, Carlo Ancelotti and Rafael Benitez have all come and gone between December 2019 and January 2022, with the three very experienced managers.
Perhaps the Everton hierarchy wanted to employ a less experienced man in Lampard, although it currently looks like this trust was misplaced, with the current Goodison Park boss unable to arrest their current slide.
Indeed, the Englishman is currently staring down the barrel of relegation to the Championship, with Everton a single point above the relegation zone.
In their last 10 games, Everton has won just twice, losing the other eight. At home, Everton managed to win six of their 14, with their away form, which has seen the side win one, draw three and lose 11, really hurting them. Everton has only picked up six points on the road, the lowest of any team in the league.
This is the form of a relegation-threatened team, and it shows.
The likes of Richarlison, Dele Alli, Jordan Pickford, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Alex Iwobi are all players that have played, or are currently regulars, for their national teams. Richarlison (Brazil) and Pickford (England) are regulars for top 10 national sides.
These are players that should be performing far better and are definitely too good for the Championship.
Alongside this, Goodison Park is a stadium steeped in history, while the fans will still cling to the fact that Everton is one of the few sides that have never been relegated from the Premier League in its current format. While this fact will matter little on the pitch, it is something the fans and players will be desperate to see kept intact.
Ultimately, Everton is a side that has more than enough to avoid relegation. The players at their disposal are more talented than the players in the teams below them. They are also in the enviable position of sitting in the final safe spot in the league, meaning they do not need to make up points at this stage.
Often, this can prove to be a huge psychological battle, and the fact they are a point above Burnley with a game in hand over both Watford and Norwich could prove to be the difference.
The question ‘is Everton too good to go down?’ is an easy one to answer. Yes, as a team, Everton is too good to suffer relegation this season.
However, the saying ‘the better team doesn’t always win’ is something that should be remembered here. A relegation battle is something many of the Everton players will never have been involved with. The strain and pressure the final eight games could bring will be unlike anything some of these players have ever faced in a sporting sense.
Everton has often been a side left languishing in mid-table with little to play for in the final few games of a season, forced to remain content with picking up three points for the sake of it with neither European spots nor relegation to battle for or against.
However, this season they will have everything to play for in their fight against relegation, and this could be the making, or breaking, of some of these players.
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