The decisive final month of the Premier League season has arrived, and with it comes the race to avoid relegation. Only Norwich City and Watford have officially gone down to the second division after their lackluster campaigns, and there is one more spot to be decided with Burnley, Leeds and Everton looking to stay up in the top flight.
This weekend featured some massive developments in the race with Watford officially being relegated on Saturday. On the same day, Burnley were bashed at home by Aston Villa, 3-1, which set up an intriguing Sunday with Leeds going to Arsenal and Everton going to Leicester.
Leeds went down 2-0 early, saw Luke Ayling earn a red card, and Jesse Marsch’s team lost 2-1 in the end. But Everton, on the back of the huge win against Chelsea last weekend, delivered again, winning 2-1 at Leicester with Vitaliy Mykolenko and Mason Holgate scoring in the first half an hour. That win sees Frank Lampard’s team escape the bottom three for the time being and tightens up an already wild race.
Here’s a look at the relegation standings (as a reminder, the bottom three go down), the remaining schedule for those teams and the players who can help them stay up.
Standings
| 16 |
Everton |
34 |
10 |
5 |
19 |
-19 |
35 |
| 17 |
Burnley |
35 |
7 |
13 |
15 |
-17 |
34 |
| 18 |
Leeds |
35 |
8 |
10 |
17 |
-35 |
34 |
| 19 |
Watford* |
34 |
6 |
4 |
25 |
-38 |
22 |
| 20 |
Norwich City* |
35 |
5 |
6 |
24 |
-53 |
21 |
* Have been relegated
Schedule
(All times U.S./Eastern and TV listings not yet available after May 12)
Saturday, May 7
Aston Villa 3, Burnley 1
Sunday, May 8
Everton 2, Leicester City 1
Arsenal 2, Leeds 1
Wednesday, May 11
Leeds vs. Chelsea, 2:30 p.m. (Peacock)
Watford vs. Everton, 2:45 p.m. (Peacock)
Sunday, May 15
Tottenham vs. Burnley, 7 a.m.
Leeds vs. Brighton, 9 a.m.
Everton vs. Brentford, 11:30 a.m.
Thursday, May 19
Aston Villa vs. Burnley, 3 p.m.
Everton vs. Crystal Palace, 2:45 p.m.
Sunday, May 22
Arsenal vs. Everton, 11 a.m.
Brentford vs. Leeds, 11 a.m.
Burnley vs. Newcastle, 11 a.m.
Here are the players who must step up for their teams to survive:
Rodrigo, Leeds United
The Spanish veteran has not had the sharpest of starts to his stint at Leeds, dealing with injuries and inconsistent performances. After scoring seven goals last season, the central attacking midfielder only has six to his name thus far, but he’s shown flashes and has come on as of late. He’s scored in three of the team’s last six with American manager Jesse Marsch now in charge, and in each of those games the team won. Leeds have taken points from five of their last six matches. He’s got technical ability and the quality to turn a match at any minute, but he has had a bit of trouble dealing with the speed and physical play of the Premier League.
Nick Pope, Burnley
A massively underrated goalkeeper, Pope has found his form lately, and the defense has also improved since that shocking 2-0 loss at Norwich in mid April. Burnley have not allowed multiple goals in any of their last four games and they’ve conceded two goals in their last 364 minutes. Pope will need to be at his best, especially when it comes to being attentive on long shots with Aston Villa (twice), Tottenham and Newcastle to come.
Richarlison, Everton
Far and away Everton’s best player, the Brazilian star may have to go all Carlos Tevez for the Toffees. And by that, I mean that he may have to carry them to safety, much like Tevez did with West Ham in 2006-07. Two points from safety but with a game in hand, his winner against Chelsea on Sunday essentially kept this team in the race for survival. Facing some weak defenses in the next week with Leicester and Watford on the fixture list, this is his chance for the striker to continue to help his club avoid their first ever relegation.
