Jamie Carragher makes Everton relegation prediction after Sean Dyche arrival
Jamie Carragher doesn’t believe Premier League survival is now a “gimme” for Everton despite Sean Dyche taking the reins at Goodison Park.
Everton are coming off an impressive win against league leaders Arsenal in Dyche’s first game and head to Anfield on Monday (13 February) to face Liverpool.
Despite survival not being guaranteed, Carragher feels the Toffees should have enough to secure their Premier League status, with Leeds the side to be relegated to the Championship.
“I still think Everton have a lot to do. I don’t think it’s a gimme now that because they have Sean Dyche they’ll stay up,” said the former Liverpool defender (Essential Football Podcast, 12m 03s, 9 February).
“Everton are still in the bottom three and I look at Leeds’ situation without a manager and the fact that the rest of the teams did strengthen heavily in the transfer window, you’d think one of them will produce something.
“I don’t see West Ham going down at all. I think Nottingham Forest have six points on the bottom three, it’s a fair amount of points. I think it’ll be out of Everton or Leeds, I think Everton will just do enough and I think it’ll be Leeds. I think Southampton or Bournemouth will go down and I think one other.”
Tight battle
With Wolves improving under Julen Lopetegui, there’s a good chance that one of West Ham, Everton or Leeds find themselves in the Championship. It promises to be an extremely tight relegation battle, and Southampton and Bournemouth can’t yet be ruled out.
The South Coast duo invested heavily in the January window and could well see their form turn around in recent weeks. There are some huge games on the horizon with Everton hosting Leeds and the Yorkshire side also facing the Saints at Elland Road.
Come the end of the season these results could be crucial in determining which division Everton will be playing their football. In Dyche, they have a man who knows how to keep a side in the Premier League and that’s why the Merseyside club stand a genuine chance of maintaining their league status.
The Toffees will head to Anfield in a confident mood knowing they have a good chance of picking up a result against a Liverpool side who are struggling for form of late.