Reasons Everton can stay in the Premier League after points deduction
The recent news that Everton has been hit with a 10-point penalty has sent shock waves around English football, with plenty of clubs wondering who is next. From the perspective of an Everton fan though, all they want to know is whether staying up is a possibility this season.
It was rumoured to be coming. But now the news is official, and Everton are back in the relegation places. The club know what they need to do to stay up. So what are their chances of survival?
What do the bookmakers think?
In the latest relegation betting, Everton are the fourth favourites at 2/1. Three teams have shorter odds than the Toffees. A bet on Premier League relegation for Sheffield United is 1/5, Luton is 2/9, and Burnley is 8/13. At the other end of the table, the Premier League top 4 odds are showing Everton at 1500/1 of finishing in the European places. Any prospect there ever was of that happening is now surely long gone.
Bookmakers aren’t always right. But Everton fans can console themselves in the knowledge that more often than not, the three promoted sides often go straight back down again. This looks more likely to happen this season than it has in recent years, with Sheffield United and Luton, in particular, looking like they are going to struggle in the top flight.
Everton suspected this was coming
At the start of the 2023/24 season, there were rumours that Everton could be hit with a points penalty. And after their awful start to the season, the prospect of a points penalty on top of only claiming one point from their first five matches, must have had fans of the club fearing the worst. At that time, they looked like going down without a points deduction, never mind with one.
But since then, things have picked up. At the time of the points deduction, Everton had won four matches in the Premier League and had 14 points. That gave them more wins and points than Nottingham Forest, Fulham, Bournemouth, Luton, Sheffield United, and Burnley.
After the upturn in form, without the points deduction, Everton fans would have been confident of avoiding the drop.
Points deduction happened at a good time for Everton
The ten-point Premier League deduction came after 12 matches of the 2023/24 season, leaving Everton 24 matches to save themselves. They have time to do this, and with calm heads, it shouldn’t be a problem.
There is the added pressure of the prospect of moving to their new stadium in the Championship. That will cause headaches behind the scenes. But on the pitch, the team will know that a similar run of results as they had before the points deduction will see them climb clear of the relegation zone.
Everton are not cut adrift in the relegation places. One win could take them back out of the Premier League bottom 3 teams. They’ve gotten out of this position once already this season. So if they can do it once, they will know they can do it again.
And in manager Sean Dyche, they have a leader who is an expert in Premier League survival and also a real fighter when his back is against the wall.
