Even before the first ball was kicked at Goodison Park last Saturday evening, results elsewhere going in Brentford’s favour meant that Thomas Frank’s side had already been assured of a fourth straight Premier League campaign, significantly easing the pressure on their red and white shoulders.
The Bees appropriately put in a performance of a side with not much left to fight for, as amid their futile efforts to breach the Everton backline and an on-song Jordan Pickford, they were condemned to an 18th top-flight loss of the season thanks to an Idrissa Gueye strike.
The midfielder’s effort also confirmed Everton’s survival in the top flight and snapped Brentford’s two-game winning sequence and five-match unbeaten run in the Premier League, a streak where back-to-back successes over Sheffield United and Luton Town went a long way to keeping the Bees afloat.
Frank’s men should not finish lower than 16th and could rise a few places up the rankings with a perfect end to a troubled campaign, although a daunting trip to Bournemouth and final-day meeting with Newcastle United still awaits one of this season’s under-achieving teams.
However, Saturday’s hosts enter the weekend on a four-match unbeaten run at the Gtech Community Stadium, taking points off of Chelsea and Manchester United in that sequence, and their West London counterparts need not throw caution to the wind for three points this weekend either.
Also safe in the knowledge that their big-time status for 2024-25 has been rubber-stamped, Fulham were mere moments away from edging out London rivals Crystal Palace last Saturday, where Rodrigo Muniz headed in his ninth goal of the term to break the deadlock early in the second half.
The Eagles would seemingly be made to pay for wasting several openings at Craven Cottage, but with just three minutes of normal time remaining, Jeffrey Schlupp picked up the ball some 25 yards from goal and unleashed a ferocious thunderbolt which left Bernd Leno stranded to the spot.
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Marco Silva could only heap praise on Schlupp’s “amazing” equaliser, but he lamented his side’s inability to stop the attack in its tracks as they remain 13th in the Premier League standings, just one point below Brighton & Hove Albion having played one game more than the Seagulls.
Despite throwing away two points right at the death, the Cottagers can now proudly boast a three-game unbeaten streak in Premier League London derbies and have lost just one of their last six against counterparts from the capital, where they achieved their most recent away win with April’s 2-0 beating of West Ham United.
Silva’s men are now out to make the net bulge for the seventh Premier League away game in a row, but they were crushed 3-0 at home to Brentford back in August and also went down 3-2 to the Bees at the Gtech Community Stadium back in March, where Mathias Jensen’s late strike proved telling.
