2022/23 EPL Finale: Iwobi, Iheanacho in desperate bid for survival

The final day of the 2022/23 English Premier League comes up on Sunday, 28 May 2023, and, while the champion and top four places have been settled, there are two more spots for relegation with Nigerians actively involved in the survival mire.

Two of Everton, Leeds United, and Leicester City will join already-relegated Southampton on Sunday, and in the mix will be some Super Eagles players. Paul Onuachu and Joe Aribo are already down, with Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi likely joining them from Leicester, or Alex Iwobi from Everton, or both.

Standings

Club P W D L F A GD Pts

Everton 37 7 12 18 33 57 -24 33

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Leicester City 37 8 7 22 49 67 -18 31

Leeds United 37 7 10 20 47 74 -27 31

Fixtures and head-to-heads

Everton v Bournemouth: Head-to-head: Everton, 1 win; Bournemouth, 4 wins in last 5 matches.

Leicester v West Ham: Head-to-head: Leicester, 1 win; West Ham, 3 wins and 1 draw in last 5 matches.

Leeds v Tottenham: Head-to-head: Leeds, 1 win; Tottenham, 4 wins, in last 5 matches.

The different narratives

Looking at the standings and the head-to-heads for the last matches, one would give Everton the greatest chance of survival, for they are two points above Leicester City and they have a home match against 15th-placed Bournemouth. But just as it was demonstrated in the Bundesliga on Saturday, a lot can happen and change in 90 minutes.

While Super Eagles midfielder Alex Iwobi has stated that he does not want his name associated with Everton’s relegation – an event that has never occurred since the Premier League’s inception in 1992. The Toffees are one of six teams that have never been relegated from the EPL. “We don’t want that history where Everton go down and it is all on us. It is not going to happen on our names – that is what we are trying to make sure doesn’t happen.”

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Moreso, the Toffees have a woeful head-to-head record against the Cherries. This clash is not a foregone conclusion. The 2021 FA Cup champions Leicester will be praying for a miracle as they seek survival. First, they have to beat West Ham, but the last time they tasted victory was 36 days ago when they beat Wolves 2-1.

Leeds manager Sam Allardyce believes his team can escape. If they succeed, their achievement will dwarf that of Harry Houdini because Tottenham also need all three points to secure a berth in the Europa Conference League for next season.

It looks like it will be an eventful Sunday. PREMIUM TIMES will have live updates from all three matches beginning at 4 p.m.