Premier League: Relegation looms already
Everton’s Beto (left) celebrates scoring with his team mates during the Carabao Cup second round match at the Eco-Power Stadium, Doncaster. Picture: Mike Egerton/PA Wire
WITH just three weeks of the season played, it might seem a bit premature to be speculating about which teams in the Premier League are going to be relegated next May. But for any fans of the clubs in the bottom third of the table, the signs are, unfortunately for them, most definitely there.
The bottom three, ahead of last night’s fixture, are Everton, Luton Town, and Burnley on zero points. They are ed by Sheffield United on the same negative points’ total, only separated from the drop zone by goal difference, while Bournemouth are clear of the rest with the relative comfort of claiming a single point.
Now to be fair, Luton and Burnley have only played two matches compared to the oppositions’ three and that was due to the match between the two promoted sides being cancelled due to Luton’s home ground of Kenilworth Road still requiring work to bring it up to Premier League requirements. If they had played, one side might have three points or both sides would have claimed a single point at the very least, so arguably both these sides are in a better situation than the Toffees or the Blades.
Luton got to show off the remedial work at Kenilworth Road last night against West Ham, unfortunately after this column had gone to press, so maybe the Hatters have exploited their home advantage to upset the odds and overturned expectations by beating David Moyes’ Hammers, who are currently riding high in second place in the table.
Luton did manage to scrape by League Two side Gillingham 3-2 at home in Tuesday night’s League Cup encounter, but they will face much sterner tests than the Gills for the rest of the season.
Burnley’s swashbuckling performances on the way to Premier League promotion had many looking forward to Vincent Kompany’s side upsetting all around them on their return to the top-flight.
So far, the step up in grade has brought a harsh reality to the Clarets and the fans at Turf Moor. Shipping six goals in their two games so far was not expected, but again, their results need to be taken in context. They opened against the champions Man City and then played a bang in-form Aston Villa, losing 3-1. Not to mind they missed their best chance of early points with the cancellation of that Luton game. It must have been hard to maintain morale as a result and facing an unbeaten Spurs’ side, third in the table, does not make for hopeful reading. But the Lancashire side have shown flashes of their Championship form and where better for Kompany and company to get off the mark than at home? An early goal may just test the London side’s resolve and title credentials.
Sheffield United are the first of our relegation quartet to have played all three of their games. Unfortunately, they lost all three but have battled hard in all three and maybe should have deserved more than their zero-points total.
Runners-up in the Championship, the Blades started this season with successive defeats to Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest, and Man City. But the Yorkshire side battled hard in all of them and only went down by a goal in all three.
Indeed, Paul Heckingbottom and his team can feel a bit unlucky not to have bagged an unexpected point against City, who only scrambled to the win by bagging a late 88th-minute winner from Rodri.
Their fixture today will be an early season six-pointer, with a victory possibly saving the winner’s bacon come May or the loser facing down the barrel of the relegation gun. They face fellow strugglers Everton, and it is their best chance of racking up points, as they then face a sticky away trip to London to face Spurs.
And speaking of sticky, the Toffees remain winless this season and indeed, they only have two victories from their last 14 Premier League fixtures. The Merseyside outfit are seriously suffering from a lack of firepower and injuries but still probably should have got at least a draw in their 1-0 defeats at the hands of Fulham and Wolves. But they were truly hockeyed by Villa in their 4-0 trouncing. While Sean Dyche’s side showed battling instincts in all the games, that they could not scrounge a single goal in all three games is worrying.
The g of striker Beto, from Udinese, hopefully bear fruits in that department and to that point the Portuguese striker hit the ground running, when he came on to score for Everton when they were a goal down to Doncaster in the League Cup match on Wednesday night. Up to that point they looked to be facing an embarrassing defeat at the hands of League 2 opposition. But Beto’s goal rallied the Liverpool side and they went on to win 2-1.
It is a chink of light in the despair for Everton, but a lot tougher matches await not least with Sheffield. Dyche will look to this afternoon’s encounter as the side’s best chance to finally get off the mark, as they face Arsenal and Brentford in the coming weeks.
App?
