Everton are a club with nine top titles that have only been relegated twice but face relegation to the Championship Photo: Reuters/Carl Recine.
Never before has the battle for relegation from the Premier League been like this. Four teams battling to avoid two places with two games left is not uncommon. But all four clubs in relatively recent history have competed for the biggest prize at this stage of the campaign: they have all been champions. All of them have a rich pedigree and a board of honors.
Last time, in 2016, Leicester City won the title. Before that it was Leeds United in 1992, Everton in 1987 and Nottingham Forest in 1978.
By comparison, in the 45 years since Forest's triumph, only seven other clubs have won the English top league, be it then the old First Division or Premier League.
«That's all. Do or die. Fight and fight to the end,” said Leeds acting head coach Sam Allardyce, summing up how dramatic it can be and how it can simply come down to which teams keep their composure.
According to sports analysts at Nielsen's Gracenote, Leicester are 83% likely to be relegated; Leeds 72% chance; Everton 29% and Forest 17% seems like a reasonable estimate. But it can change quickly.
Football, too, changes quickly and sometimes too slowly, and Leeds have returned to the top flight for just two seasons after a 16-year absence. Forest has been banished for even longer and this is their first campaign since 1999. Leicester returned in 2014 after a ten-year absence.
It has only been seven years since Leicester won the title and now they are in great danger of relegation. Photo: AFP/Adrian Dennis. they lose their status for the first time since 1951 and return in 1955.
By comparison, Everton have only been relegated twice in their 136-year history. Only Arsenal have lasted longer at the top.
But it's all clubs with fan bases, big old names and scale that expect more. It feels like there's even more at stake than usual in the last two rounds of matches. As Southampton have completed their 11-year spell, this will be the first time since the 2017-2018 season that all three promoted teams will remain if Forest survives.
It's tight. Only four points separate four teams, and two will definitely lose. «There's a mini-league going on in our part of the standings and we want to stay at least where we are right now,» said Forest manager Steve Cooper, before adding: «So many things can happen in the next two games and we we need to focus on what we can control, focus on the present.”
Whatever happens between today and next Sunday's final whistle, it's going to be a big story, though things get complicated due to this weekend's shift in start times. All four play at different times over the next three days, with Leicester's Dean Smith speaking about how unfair it was that his team had to play catch-up in three consecutive matches on Monday. Truth be told, this sounded defeatist on Smith's part and unfortunately there is a growing sense of humility at Leicester, the only team in Europe's top five leagues to have yet to clean sheet after the World Cup, which finished eighth last season. , but has since crashed.
Of course, this can work both ways. But in theory, Everton could claim a significant advantage if they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers away at 3pm on Saturday. By the time Forest faces Arsenal at home at 17:30 the same day, they will know if they have been outclassed by Everton or not.
Leeds will be aware of both results and where they will stay on Sunday as they play West Ham United away at 13:30. They could be relegated with a defeat while Leicester could be up from what came before them or know that if they lost to Newcastle on Monday night they would be relegated if the rest three will win.
Leeds could be relegated this weekend if they lose to Newcastle on Sunday. Photo: Reuters/Andrew Cooldridge
Although Smith suggested this was unfair, Everton manager Sean Dyche was more pragmatic about the scheduling. “You can look at it from any angle. You can dress him up. I've been on both sides of it. The last club, this club. When you feel like the game is the right day, the wrong day,” Dyche said. «The way it is. At the end of the day, the schedule is what it is, and you have to live with it.”
It was the inability to “handle it” that left all four teams in this position – although Forest, despite owner Evangelos Marinakis’ huge expenses , could well take this position at the beginning of the season; their fate remains in their hands.
The relegation should also, given that they have just moved up, affect Forest the least and Everton the most. Leeds and Leicester say they are ready for the possibility. But for the one who goes down, it will have huge consequences. Not least thanks to two big names returning to the Championship.
Свежие комментарии