Everton's route to Premier League survival

The Premier League’s decision to deduct ten points off Everton for financial rule breaches has plunged the club firmly into the relegation battle.

A 3-0 home defeat against Manchester United in their most recent outing left the Toffees 19th in the standings, five points adrift of safety.

However, while most EPL football predictions for Everton fixtures this season are forecasting a tough road ahead, climbing out of the bottom three is not beyond the realms of possibility.

With that in mind, we take a closer look at how Everton can avoid dropping into the Championship, starting with a hectic run of games during December.

Upcoming fixtures give Everton some hope

Everton have seven league games scheduled in December, and the league table could look very different by the time they have navigated through that run.

A trip to Nottingham Forest should hold no fears, while home matches against Newcastle United and Chelsea are both winnable if the team put their minds to it.

The Toffees then travel to Burnley on December 16 for a game which both sides desperately need to win if they are to climb out of the relegation zone.

Vincent Kompany’s side have been absolutely woeful this season and Everton should head to Turf Moor believing that they will return home with all three points.

Everton round off 2023 with games against Tottenham Hotspur (A), Manchester City (H) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (A) – each of which will be tough tests.

Early part of the New Year could be productive 

Sean Dyche’s side have more tricky fixtures lined up from January onwards including Aston Villa (H), Tottenham (H), Man City (A) and Man United (H).

However, they also have several winnable games on paper from which they need to garner as many points as possible ahead of the second Merseyside derby.

Liverpool’s visit to Goodison Park in the middle of March stands out as a fixture which could be the catalyst for Everton to get themselves out of trouble.

The Reds have had the upper hand over their local rivals for far too long now, but all that would be forgotten if Dyche can guide his team to a victory in their next meeting.

That would set Everton up nicely for their final nine fixtures of the season – five of which are against teams involved in the relegation battle.

Eighteen-point haul could fire Everton to safety

Everton visit Newcastle United, Chelsea and Arsenal in last nine matches and anything they can take from those fixtures would be welcome.

However, their other six fixtures offer a golden opportunity for the team to escape, and an 18-point haul from those matches is achievable if the team performs at its best.

Bournemouth (A), Burnley (H), Forest (H), Luton Town (A) and Sheffield United (H) are all games Everton must take maximum points from.

They will also fancy their chances of overcoming Brentford at Goodison Park, which would be an added bonus during what is largely a favourable run-in.

Losing ten points is far from ideal, but Everton fans should not give up hope just yet given there are still 25 games remaining this season.

Prediction: Burnley and Sheffield United are nailed on to be relegated, which leaves Everton battling with a handful of other teams to avoid the other spot. They will escape, but only just.

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