Battle for Survival as Curtain Falls on Premier League

With Manchester City having successfully defended the Premier League title and the top-four teams having emerged, attention will tomorrow shift to the three teams-Everton, Leicester City and Leeds United all with a fighting chance of escaping relegation. The big question therefore is which two teams would join Southampton in the English Championship next season 

Everton head into their final day clash with Bournemouth knowing a win will keep them in the Premier League.

The Toffees have drifted into the relegation scrap again after a similar campaign in 2021/22, but the point at Wolves helped retain their two-point advantage over Leicester and matching the Foxes’ result at West Ham will be enough to avoid the drop.

Wins over Southampton and Leeds took Bournemouth up to 39 points, securing top flight safety, but three straight defeats have since followed.

Everton narrowly avoided relegation last season but are in a different boat this year with their safety yet to be secured.

Their task is made slightly easier by facing a Bournemouth side firmly out of form. Only four teams have performed worse than the Cherries over the last six matches but the visitors will be playing with freedom at a tense Goodison Park and the Toffees may have to rely on other results to stay up.

An afternoon of great anxiety awaits on Merseyside.

Meanwhile, pivotal final-day Premier League showdown takes place in front of the raucous Elland Road faithful tomorrow afternoon, as Leeds United host Tottenham Hotspur.

The Whites simply need to win and hope for results elsewhere to go in their favour to save their top-flight bacon, while Ryan Mason’s side are in a three-horse race with Aston Villa and Brentford for a spot in the Europa Conference League.

Taking on a West Ham United side fatigued from their continental commitments, Leeds took a giant step above the dotted line when a sumptuous Rodrigo finish broke the deadlock at the London Stadium last weekend, but Sam Allardyce’s men were quickly dragged back into the doldrums.

Declan Rice restored parity for the Hammers just after the half-hour mark, before Jarrod Bowen just about kept himself onside to poke home, and Manuel Lanzini put the cherry on the icing on the cake for the Europa Conference League finalists in added time to leave Leeds on the brink of demotion.

While showing plenty of fight in their defeat to Manchester City and draw with Newcastle United, Leeds have failed to do the most important thing in a relegation dogfight – put points on the board – and their fate lies out of their own hands with just 90 minutes left on the clock.

Sitting 19th in the table – level on points with Leicester City and two adrift of Everton – only victory will do for Leeds if they are to give themselves a chance of staying up, while they must simultaneously pray for West Ham to at least hold Leicester to a draw and for Bournemouth to beat Everton at Goodison Park.

Breaching opposing defences has not been the root of Leeds’ problems, as the Whites have made the net ripple in each of their last 12 Premier League affairs, but they have failed to keep a clean sheet in an unlucky 13 straight matches and will need more than good fortune to salvage their top-flight status now.

Leeds took the lead three times at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium earlier this season, but the Whites’ efforts were ultimately in vain in a 4-3 defeat. One can expect another glut of goals here, but too many flying past Joel Robles in the Leeds goal could spell the end of the hosts’ short-lived Premier League homecoming.

Even victory is not certain to save them, so Leicester City face a win-or-bust scenario on the Premier League’s final day, when they host West Ham United at the King Power Stadium.

The 2016 champions will be demoted should they fail to take maximum points on Sunday – and results elsewhere could condemn still them to the drop anyway. The Hammers, meanwhile, may have one eye on an upcoming European final.

While the verdict was out as to whether Leicester’s goalless draw at Newcastle United on Monday represented a good result in their precarious circumstances, the point Dean Smith’s side took home from St James’ Park leaves them with hope of top-flight survival.

Holding a Champions League-chasing side on home turf may build a little confidence in the camp following back-to-back losses for the concession of eight goals, but the Foxes’ fate is not in their own hands heading into the final 90 minutes of a dismal campaign.

Failure to win this weekend will see the Midlands club relegated from the Premier League just seven years after claiming the title under Claudio Ranieri, and they would become only the second side demoted from the division after winning it – following in the footsteps of Blackburn Rovers.

Only a win over West Ham allied to Everton dropping points against Bournemouth would now see City survive, so Smith’s message will be clear ahead of kickoff at the King Power.

Neither form nor precedent bode well, though, as Leicester have won just two of their last 12 home fixtures – losing eight times in the process – while failing to keep a single clean sheet. Furthermore, they have won their final league game in just one of the last seven seasons.

However, one of only four away wins this term came in November’s reverse fixture, when James Maddison and Harvey Barnes – who were both controversially dropped against Newcastle – scored for the Foxes in a 2-0 win at London Stadium. A repeat result now could be invaluable.

While West Ham’s Premier League season reaches its conclusion on Sunday, they are still over a week away from contesting the Europa Conference League final in Prague, where Fiorentina will stand in the way of some elusive silverware.

Victory in Leicester could see David Moyes and co climb to 13th in the final Premier League table, which would add a gloss of respectability to a season

scarred by several months spent battling at the bottom.

Against the odds, Moyes has survived until the final day when all around him were being fired by trigger-happy chairmen, and as West Ham have lost their final league game just once in the last six seasons he will now seek a similarly positive outcome on Sunday.

As Caglar Soyuncu will not be available for Leicester’s crucial final-day contest, the Turkish defender has surely played his final game for the club – he is out of contract in the summer and has long been tipped for a move away.

In better news for Dean Smith, midfield regular Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is back in the fold after missing two matches with an ankle injury, while Kelechi Iheanacho, Ricardo Pereira and Jonny Evans have all overcome knocks to make themselves available for the Foxes’ date with destiny.

Wilfred Ndidi is still a major doubt due to a hamstring problem, though, and James Justin, Jannik Vestergaard, Ryan Bertrand and goalkeeper Danny Ward are all sidelined.

After beginning Monday’s clash with Newcastle on the bench, both James Maddison and Harvey Barnes should return to the hosts’ starting XI as they revert to a four-man defence.§