This Sunday will go down in the history books of Everton, regardless of the final score.
The Toffees face Bournemouth at Goodison Park. Relegation rivals Leicester and Leeds will play West Ham and Spurs at the King Power and Elland Road respectively.
All three clubs play at the same time, all at home, with Premier League survival on the line.
The Current Standings
Sean Dyche’s men currently sit in the driver’s seat after what turned out to be a huge draw, salvaging a point through Yerry Mina’s last-gasp equaliser against Wolves at Molineux.
Then, after Leeds lost 3-1 to West Ham and Leicester held Newcastle for a point, gameweek 37 concluded with Everton on 33 points, with Leicester and Leeds both on 31.
Leicester boast by far the best goal difference of the terrible trio, which could play a huge part on Sunday dependant on each result.
As previously mentioned, Everton are in pole position. If the Blues manage to win their final game, they will stay up regardless of results elsewhere. Three points no matter how they come will see them maintain their Premier League status.
Should they draw, it becomes a little more complicated. A draw would see Everton on 34 points. If the Foxes win their final fixture, they will stay up on goal difference – as it is significantly better than the Blues’.
Should Leeds also win on the final day as well as Everton drawing, they would need to win by at least three goals to leapfrog the Blues, but if Leicester also won, the deficit, they would have to overcome is inconceivably larger.
If Everton lose, it will require just one of Leeds or Leicester to win their game, and Goodison Park would witness their team be relegated to The Championship.
All of that aside, the message from Sean Dyche will be infinitely clear – win at all costs.
His side will be spared a lot of stress should they pick up three points. It is plain and simple for all to see.
Desperation Deja-Vu
Looking ahead to gameday, anyone familiar with Everton Football Club and the prospect of relegation will cast their mind back to last season, to the penultimate game of the 2021/22 campaign against Crystal Palace.
Everton would seal their survival with a win at Goodison Park. Sound familiar?
Upon the team coaches’ arrival, the driver would struggle to see the way through a thick cloud of blue smoke. You could barely hear your own thoughts through the singing of thousands of Evertonians who showed up hours before kick-off to greet the players.
Similar is expected this time around. The fans will do as much as humanly possible to create a 12th-man advantage for the Toffees.
Of course, in typical Everton fashion, they would make this as difficult as possible, and they were 2-0 down at half-time. They looked down and out.
Richarlison and Micheal Keane of all people would score the two which drew their team level, before Dominic Calvert-Lewin headed home a winner and made himself the hero.
Dyche's Selection Dilemma
The Blues will be without said hero in their efforts this time around.
They will also be without a recognised right-back, after Nathan Patterson’s injury-riddled season worsened as he came off early against Wolves last week. Seamus Coleman remains side-lined after his ligament injury earlier in the month.
It will be interesting to see who is trusted in that position after Keane was tasked with playing the role when he replaced Patterson.
Dyche may opt to play a back five versus Bournemouth, which would see Keane in his natural role alongside Yerry Mina and James Tarkowski, with Alex Iwobi and Dwight McNeil possibly occupying the wing-back positions.
Mason Holgate is another who has tried his hand at full-back this season. It ended with him getting himself sent off, to the surprise of absolutely nobody.
Though, in what would be a huge boost for Everton as it could mean releasing McNeil further up the field, left-back Vitalii Mykolenko may be available for selection on Sunday. It was reported that the Ukrainian had returned to training after seemingly overcoming his thigh injury.
McNeil did an ample job filling in last week, but he is far too important offensively to be stuck at left back. He scored a brace when Everton beat Brighton 5-1 away, who have just happened to confirm they will be playing in the Europa League next season.
He has undoubtedly been Everton’s most influential player since Dyche took over and could well play a huge part should Everton do enough to remain a Premier League outfit.
Presumably, in Calvert-Lewin’s absence it will be Demarai Gray who starts up top. The ex-Burnley boss will likely instruct him to hang off Bournemouth’s back-line and try to get in behind and win set-pieces, which will allow the big centre-halves to move up the pitch.
Ellis Simms is another contender for the empty number nine spot but has been used sporadically since being recalled from his loan at Sunderland.
The Blues have looked extremely threatening to opposing teams when Tarkowski and Mina particularly are allowed to get in the opposition's box.
One would assume Dyche would play his much-coveted percentage football and attempt to have his players flood the box and win aerial duels.
Goodison Park will be a bear pit come Sunday. It has been known to suck the ball into the net from set-pieces. If you have the towering presence of Everton’s two colossal defenders, Bournemouth would do well to keep one from crossing over the line across the 90 minutes.
Dyche also confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Amadou Onana will be available for selection, he is another who is aerially dominant and is very effective when the ball is invitingly in-flight.
McNeil and James Garner will be of utmost importance should said style of football be implemented. Both are very capable takers of set-pieces, and the latter is another who has thrived under the new boss.
The Opposition
Since confirming their Premier League status for another year, Sunday’s opponents Bournemouth have lost three on the bounce. It would be naive to assume the Cherries have their feet up, but they now have nothing to play for.
This is certainly something that Everton should look to take advantage of. Gary O’Neill has recently hinted that there may be changes to his team – if the Blues are in his players' faces from the go, that and the atmosphere could prove too much for them.
The two sides last faced off in November, in the final two games prior to the World Cup break. In what should have been Frank Lampard’s last two games as Everton manager his side lost 4-1 in the EFL Cup and then 3-0 just four days later. At the time, Bournemouth were looking likely for the drop.
The scorers across those games included Welsh striker Kieffer Moore, Jamal Lowe and Emiliano Marcondes. A lot has changed since for the two clubs, with the former struggling for regular game time and the latter duo having both moved out of the club.
Another scorer was Junior Stanislas, who seemingly has a freakish knack for scoring against the Blues. His last game was in that first victory against Everton, having not featured for a single minute since. Evertonians will be praying he isn’t defrosted and put into action this weekend.
It's all on the line
Amidst all the changes at both clubs, Everton Football Club will be hoping their fortunes have changed too. Sunday is the biggest game in Everton’s recent history. Everton hold the record for the most season played in the top-flight. They are a founding member of the football league.
A club enriched in history, and entering likely its final season at Goodison Park should not be playing anywhere but alongside the elite. The players will feel the weight of the nearly 40,000 inside Goodison Park as well as the many who aren’t able to attend. Let’s hope they can handle it.