While the eyes of the world may be on Manchester City and Liverpool in a tight title race that will most likely come down to the wire, another race in the Premier League is also taking place: The relegation zone. Watford and Norwich are all but going down, leaving the final place between Burnley, Leeds United, and Everton respectively.
All three clubs have had their growing pains this season, with Leeds having a huge drop off due to injuries and later the sacking of Marcelo Bielsa. Burnley also sacked their manager and Everton even with Frank Lampard have suffered greatly.
Below we will examine all three clubs remaining fixtures and give our verdict as to who will survive to fight another season in the Premier League. Here is what’s in store for Leeds, Burnley, and Everton.
Burnley
Burnley is the team in the best shape down the stretch in the Premier League, winners of three in a row and having not lost 4 of their last 5. Burnley must like their chances in the last 4 games of the season; they will play Aston Villa twice, Spurs in between, and Newcastle to end the season.
Aston Villa is a team that is woefully inconsistent, and Spurs could also be there for the taking. With 6 points from their last 4, it should be enough to survive. Our prediction: Burnley will stay up.
Leeds United
Jesse Marsch’s arrival to Leeds may be a case of too little too late, Leeds was firmly beaten by Manchester City over the weekend, and they need a result badly against Arsenal this weekend. The game that could keep Leeds up could be what happens against Arsenal.
Having to later play Chelsea, Brighton, and Brentford, all teams that are getting points down the stretch, could be the end for Leeds' dream in the Premier League. The club was hopeful that with Bielsa they could climb into European standings but truly Leeds is a team that was glued together by the incredible belief Bielsa placed on a group of talented players.
Marsch has obtained good results since taking over but Leeds have been outmatched when playing teams of higher quality. As hard as it sounds, Leeds gets our vote for the drop.
Everton
Everton is by no means safe; their key game could be against Watford, those three points plus getting something out of an ailing Leicester City could be enough to survive. Everton despite their disbalanced performances have beaten Chelsea, Manchester United, and drawn Leicester City.
It would be a brutal blow for Everton to drop after getting points from two big clubs near the end but while unbalanced at times Everton must like their chances of getting at least 7 points in their last 4 games. Prediction: Everton stay up.
