MY ACCOUNT
The 2022-23 Premier League season concludes on Sunday with plenty of drama at the bottom of the table in store.
While the title race ended with Manchester City pipping Arsenal to the domestic crown, the battle to beat the drop is far from over.
Southampton have already been officially demoted to the Championship and they will be joined by two from Everton, Leicester and Leeds.
After the Foxes’ 0-0 draw at Newcastle on Monday night, we take a look at the key permutations in the relegation fight ahead of the final day.
Everton (33 points, GD -24)
The Toffees have the simplest task of the three teams thanks to Yerry Mina’s stoppage-time equaliser at Wolves last Saturday.
A win of any sort against Bournemouth will confirm their Premier League status for another season, no matter the results in the other matches.
But if Sean Dyche’s team were to draw at Goodison Park on Sunday, they would then be reliant on Leicester not beating West Ham due to the Foxes’ superior goal difference.
And a defeat for Everton would see Leeds added back into the equation, providing Sam Allardyce’s side can defeat Tottenham at Elland Road.
Leicester (31 points, GD -18)
If Timothy Castagne had converted his late chance at Newcastle to secure a 1-0 win, Dean Smith’s side would be firmly in the driving seat.
But it is out of their hands now, despite keeping this first Premier League clean sheet since November at St James’ Park.
Anything but a victory against David Moyes’ Hammers at the King Power Stadium will see the Foxes playing in the Championship next season.
But the big silver lining for the East Midlands club is their goal difference, which means Everton cannot be comfortable settling for a 13th draw of the campaign against the Cherries.
Leeds (31 points, GD -27)
Big Sam is in big trouble going into the final day.
After Leeds’ 3-1 defeat at West Ham last Sunday, the survival specialist knows that even a convincing win over Spurs will likely not be enough to beat the drop.
The Whites are now reliant on both Everton and Leicester not picking up positive results against teams who have already secured their Premier League status for next season.
And even if the Merseyside outfit were to draw against Bournemouth, Allardyce’s side would need to win by three clear goals — which they have done just once in the top flight this season — in order to leapfrog them into 17th.
The reason it is not four clear goals is because the West Yorkshire club have scored 47 times in the league this season compared to the Toffees’ total of 33, which is the third-lowest in the division behind Southampton and Wolves.
But a defeat for Everton and either a draw or loss for Leicester would mean any Leeds victory over Ryan Mason’s visitors would be enough to stay up.
