View: Everton dealt major blow in Premier League relegation battle
Everton have suffered a huge blow in the Premier League’s crunch relegation dog fight and Frank Lampard and co will be furious.
The Blues are to travel to the Emirates for the last game of the season but recent developments in the all north London race for the top four are far from ideal for the Merseysiders.
Mikel Arteta’s side boasted a comfortable four-point gap on Tottenham ahead of the 3-0 drubbing at the hands of their rivals – which saw left Spurs only one point away from the Champions League.
If they had won that game – it would have been virtually impossible for Antonio Conte’s side to have caught up.
To make matters worse, the Gunners suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Newcastle on Monday [May 16] which saw Tottenham usurp them in fourth.
Arsenal now have to win their last home game and hope that Spurs drop points in theirs to earn a place in the UCL – which puts the Toffees in a very difficult position.
Unnecessary.
The Gunners could have been home and dry by now but they had to do the typical Arsenal thing and bottle it, massively.
Of course, none of this would matter if Lampard’s side beat Brentford on the weekend but they were very hard done by.
They do have the opportunity to guarantee their safety with a win against Crystal Palace but that is far from a guarantee and anything other than three points would keep them in and amongst the madness.
Patrick Vieira has done a magnificent job in orchestrating a well-drilled Eagles side that is very good at keeping possession – which the Blues are not – so this game could prove more difficult than people think.
They will have the backing of the Goodison Park crowd that has already proven itself to be the twelfth man this season which will be a huge boost.
Please god, Everton win on Wednesday night because the last thing that the Toffees need is going away to a team who are desperate for a result.
In other Everton news, Sean Dyche has lifted the lid on a private talk with Lampard after he insulted the Blues.
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