This week, it was revealed that Everton had received a significant update in their financial fair play evaluation.
Toffees on trial once again
This season, Sean Dyche’s Everton has already experienced the repercussions of breaking the Premier League’s FFP regulations; they were punished six points (originally 10 before being reduced on appeal).
They are currently awaiting their second decision after Nottingham Forest was penalized four points for a previous infraction last week. They will still have to wait a long to find out their fate, though.
Mark Chapman stated during an appearance on 5 Live’s Monday Night Club that a decision was not anticipated anytime soon.
“The deadline is April 8th, but the last I heard, it won’t be before the Premier League returns or before the international matchups. That’s what I was informed,” he told the audience.
Should it come towards that deadline, Everton will have as few as seven games left to play, with trips to Bournemouth and Newcastle United as well as a home game against Burnley all set to take place before April 8th as things stand.
A points deduction would likely leave them in the relegation zone, with the club teetering nervously above the drop zone once more heading into the final part of the campaign.
The Premier League relegation battle
Team
Played
Won
Drawn
Lost
Goal Difference
Points
Everton
28
8
7
13
-10
25*
Luton
29
5
7
17
-18
22
Nottingham Forest
29
6
7
16
-16
21*
Burnley
29
4
5
20
-34
17
Sheffield United
28
3
5
20
-50
14
Though Everton have a game in hand on most of the sides below them, that is a Merseyside derby against high-flying Liverpool, which they will have little hope of getting a result in despite the rivalry.
Latest update is a boost for Dyche
It has now emerged, in an unexpected turn of events, that Everton are “confident they can avoid a second points deduction” this season, partly due to their “confidence that they have acted in good faith and complied with the investigation”.
Football Insider, who states that “the Merseyside club have grown in confidence that their penalty could be reduced to zero following the verdict of Nottingham Forest’s hearing,” is the source of the information provided..
It is added that there is a ‘growing feeling’ on the blue side of Merseyside that “an expected three-point penalty could be reduced down to zero because of mitigating factors and compliance”, with Forest having seen an initial six point penalty dropped to four in recognition of their co-operation, something that Everton hope to replicate.
A three point deduction, should it come, would leave the club in the same position in the Premier League, but would see them just a point above the drop zone heading into the last part of the season and, with the Blues struggling to find the back of the net with any sort of regularity in the second half of the campaign, could see them in massive danger of dropping out of England’s top flight.
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