Everton’s relegation chances have fluctuated dramatically across the last few years, with the Toffees coming so close to the drop, but never quite being pushed into the abyss.
As a Premier League mainstay, it feels like their spot in the top flight is just always assured, and yet they have come incredibly close to the dire possibility despite never being truly ravaged by it.
However, finally having forged a sustainable foundation from which to build, this summer has allowed Sean Dyche to bolster his squad accordingly and limit those chances.
With that in mind, one defeat on Saturday cannot alter all of that progress.
Richard Keys and Andy Gray talk relegation chances
Speaking live on beIN SPORTS [17 August, 7:55 pm], beIN Sport pundit Richard Keys was left in a hugely emotional state after Everton’s heavy opening-day defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion.
It spurred him on to include them in his predictions for the relegation battle, in which nobody seems safe: ‘I think Ipswich are nailed on to go back; Southampton will go with them.
‘Of the third promoted team, I think [Steve] Cooper knows what it takes to keep a team up.
‘So I’ll go with Leicester City having the best chance of those three promoted clubs of staying up. I still think Brighton will get into a bit of trouble.
‘And you can throw Nottingham Forest into the mix. I wasn’t going to mention Everton, but having seen them today.’
Then interrupted by his co-host and former Everton striker, Andy Gray simply noted: ‘I’m not arguing with you after that.’
Keys is not the first pundit to deliver his verdict on this particular matter, and will certainly not be the last, as Theo Walcott provided his Everton relegation prediction late last campaign too.
Everton surely have too much to get relegated
Although stronger things have happened in the past, and far better teams than them have been relegated, it does seem like Everton will once again have too much to fall to the drop.
After all, to only is their squad far stronger than it was last season, but also the competition for safety is nowhere near as strong as it perhaps has been in the past.
The vast majority of pundits and high-profile football speakers are once again tipping the three promoted teams to go straight back down, such is the ever-extending gulf between the Premier League and the Championship.
With that in mind, it really does seem unlikely that this particular year will be the one where Everton go down, especially after just one poor result.
What’s most ironic is that they didn’t even play that badly, and on another day could have gone in at the break leading by one, two or even three goals.
Instead, they were 1-0 behind, and chasing the game was always bound to be dangerous. It should not shape the rest of their season though.
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