Everton, Leicester City and Leeds United will all be playing for their Premier League futures on the season’s final day.
With Southampton already relegated, two of Leicester, Leeds or Everton will join them in the championship next season.
Nottingham Forest, somewhat unexpectedly, secured their Premier League safety with a 1 -0 victory over Arsenal last weekend. As a result neither Leeds or Leicester are in control of their fates.
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Leeds and Leicester occupy 19th and 18th place with 31 points. Everton in 17th are on 33 points.
Theoretically, Everton could lose their final game against Bournemouth and still stay up if neither Leeds or Leicester win.
Leicester play West Ham on the final day, while Leeds play Tottenham. Both teams need to hope they better the result of the other to survive.
Bournemouth are already safe, so Everton may not face much resistance against them at home. Similarly, West Ham’s focus on the Europa Conference League final could see them phone it in at the King Power stadium.
Leeds face the toughest task against a Spurs team which still has something to play for. If they win and Aston Villa lose they qualify for the Conference League. Whether or not they really want to play in that competition, or if this Tottenham team can be relied upon to get a win remains to be seen.
In Dyche, Allerdyce and Smith, it’s a battle between the managers who were parachuted in to help avoid relegation.
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The fact Forest, the only relegation-threatened team who didn’t replace their manager, secured safety before all of them won’t be lost on anybody. Of all the teams who did so, Leeds look the most insecure.
As accomplished as he is, Sam Allerdyce really is the last throw of the dice. Leeds cannot defend and he needs a team that can at least do that.
The future of these three teams will be decided on Sunday when all ten Premier League games kick off at 16.30.
