Everton

Nottingham Forest have slipped into the relegation zone after being deducted four points for breaching the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules, BBC Sport understands.

The deduction leaves, which leaves Nuno Espirito Santo's side on 21 points, lifts Luton Town out of the drop zone by one point.

Burnley remain in 19th and are four points behind Forest with 10 games remaining, while Sheffield United are seven.

Everton, who were previously deducted six points, are now three points clear of Forest but the Toffees could still be deducted further points for a second breach.

Brentford remain in 15th on 26 points.

Read the full story over here

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Now they know who is through to the FA Cup semi finals, the Premier League have the list of fixtures that need to be confirmed before the end of the season. These will have to be slotted into a couple of spare midweeks that do not include European fixtures.

The first is immediately after the semi-finals in April, the second is before the final weekend.

Manchester City have two games to fit in, so will need both.

The big question for the Premier League is whether just City play in that midweek, or if Arsenal's outstanding home game against Chelsea and Liverpool's Merseyside derby trip to Everton, both of which were due to be played in the weekend just gone, are played in the April or May slot.

All three clubs playing three games in the final week sounds like something that could create a huge amount of drama.

Image source, Getty Images

Jarrad Branthwaite has been included in Gareth Southgate's England squad for upcoming friendly matches against Brazil and Belgium.

It's the Toffees' defender first call-up to the senior squad, after making six appearances for England under-21s.

"He's played consistently well" Southgate said. "We watched him as a back-up centre-half in the under-21 finals last year. If you had said to me he would play as consistently well at Premier League level as he has, then I'd have questioned that. Great credit to him and Sean [Dyche].

"He's good with the ball, shows good composure and mentality. He's a left footer, and we don't have many left footed defenders. He's in on merit and we're looking forward to getting to know him more."

Branthwaite has his first chance to make his England debut on Saturday, 23 March against Brazil at Wembley.

Full story over here

At which Premier League clubs are English players getting the most game time this season?

An edition of the BBC Football Extra newsletter posed that question earlier in the week and the results make for interesting reading for fans of a few clubs.

Against a league total of 30.2%, that the proportion of total minutes across all clubs that England-qualified players account for, the range for individual clubs varies from 8% all the way up to 64%.

At the top of the table sit Everton with 64% - this perhaps not hugely surprising as manager Sean Dyche tends to gravitate towards English players. At Burnley across 2020-21 there were four occasions when he picked an 11 containing 10 English players plus Czech striker Matej Vydra, by far the closest we have come to an all-English 11 in recent times. More on that below.

Newcastle are the only other club where England players account for more than half of all minutes this season, clocking in at 53%.

At the other end of the table we find two London rivals, Tottenham and Fulham, where England-qualified players have accounted for just 8% of all minutes this campaign. At Spurs, this includes the game time of Eric Dier, who is no longer at the club.

Two other noteworthy clubs are Aston Villa and Chelsea. In February 1999, Villa fielded an all-English 11, the last time this happened in the league. This season, the percentage of game time given to English players at Villa is 21% - though they do of course fare better if British players are factored in too.

Later in 1999, Chelsea became the first Premier League side to field an 11 without an English player. However, this season they sit at 35% and this despite injuries to Reece James and Ben Chilwell.

The wider context is that the league average of 30.2% is the lowest since 2018/19 (28.9%) and well down on the 36.3% figure of three seasons ago.

And which nations are getting more minutes? One notable nation is Brazil – there was not a single Brazilian in the league when the Premier League came into existence, now they account for the second most minutes played in the league and only four sides don’t have a Brazilian in their regular starting 11.

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Ian Kennedy
BBC Radio Merseyside reporter

With Everton now without a game until the end of the month, there is a chance to regroup at a training camp in Portugal.

Sean Dyche has already acknowledged that chances will need to be converted in the remaining games of the season.

It’s an obvious and ongoing problem. Some 23 shots against Manchester United but again no goals, and the Blues are still without a league win since December.

The performance at Old Trafford was generally good, but Dyche knows it is the “fine details” that make the difference. If you don’t score you don’t win.

A few days away could be a good thing.

A change of scenery can be useful psychologically, and a mixture of work and down time will hopefully give the players a reboot for the final 10 games of the season.

Starting with that away day at Bournemouth on 30 March.

According to Opta's 'Supercomputer,' Everton are likely to stay up this season with a 16th-place finish on 37 points (37.49 to be precise). However, that does not account for any further point deductions.

We asked you for your thoughts on this prediction:

Barrie: Yes, they will. The positive team dynamic that was fleetingly evident after the initial points deduction has evaporated, which means that poor quality players are now found wanting. Everton have not performed at the required level for the past three seasons and quite frankly don't deserve a place at the top table.

David: If Everton do stay up, then it will be purely down to there being worse teams in the league. I actually think we are playing pretty well, certainly creating enough chances. We just can’t take them for whatever reason. We will probably need four more wins to be safe, so the sooner the better as this run must be concerning for players and staff. Sean Dyche is doing a decent job.

Chris: We should be OK as we have Burnley, Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United at home. If we cannot beat those three at home then we deserve to go down!

Shaun: Everton are in massive trouble, on and off the field. Relegation (with or without another points deduction) is an extremely valid concern. Whatever happens, Dyche should keep his job for at least another season. Maybe two. Rotating managers in and out every year is part of what's landed us in this mess in the first place. Definition of insanity.

Jeff: In order to stay up something has got to change as currently we can't score goals. I'm very concerned that Dyche is not reacting by trying to change personnel and or formation. Keep going as we are and our relegation is virtually assured.

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Everton are lining up Hull's 23-year-old English defender Jacob Greaves as a replacement for Jarrad Branthwaite should their 21-year-old defender leave this summer. (Football Insider, external)

Want more transfer news? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

Pat Nevin
Former Chelsea and Everton winger

Image source, Reuters

Watching Everton, Luton Town and Sheffield United on Saturday underlined just how competitive the Premier League is. Nobody has given up down at the bottom and no three points can ever be taken for granted.

Luton battled to the very death against Crystal Palace to win a point in the 96th minute. Everton had more possession, chances and endeavour than Manchester United at Old Trafford and although there is a distinct lack of quality in front of goal, the spirit is there in bucketfuls.

Sheffield United might have buckled after the embarrassing 6-0 home hammering by Arsenal, but no, they were back down at Bournemouth going 2-0 up before succumbing to a late equaliser.

All the bottom sides have weaknesses, most obviously up front with few natural goalscorers, though Luton's Elijah Adebayo has scored nine in the league. His return is arguably as impressive as Erling Haaland's 18 to date, simply because the Norwegian gets so many more chances.

The teams at the bottom are all fighting, and each is dangerous. They keep the entire division honest, and they deserve applause for that alone. Who knows, one of them might even decide the title in the end.

As if to underline the above, Burnley, who are very likely to be in the Championship next season, were asking West Ham the toughest of questions after going 2-0 up in east London on Sunday. Eventually, David Moyes got the message across that there are no easy games and they fought back impressively in another cracking game.

Pat Nevin was writing for the BBC Football Extra newsletter

Mike Richards
Fan writer

Never has a three-week break from watching your team been as welcomed as this one.

Defeat at the hands of an average Manchester United side means the search for a win in the Premier League will stretch beyond the three-month mark.

To coin the manager, it was "the same old story".

On the surface, statistics would have you believe it wasn’t a bad performance. The eye test tells you it was typical of what we’ve seen for many months.

The toothless nature of our attack is the real alarming trait of this side. There were plenty of shots on goal again but none of any real quality. Lack of confidence, combined with a distinct lack of responsibility in the final third, has to be addressed.

A planned trip to Portugal this week is the ideal time to arrest the slide. Sometimes simply changing the scenery, and removing the stress and pressure that seem to run through every facet of the club, is exactly what the doctor ordered.

The uncertainty that has shrouded our club for the majority of the season has the very real possibility of dictating the outcome for us come May or June.

The players and manager have the responsibility, and the opportunity, to ensure that this isn’t the case.

Mike Richards can be found on the Unholy Trinity, external

BBC Sport's chief football writer Phil McNulty has been answering your questions.

Dave in Tiverton asked: Hi Phil. Do you think the possibility of points deductions for Everton and Forest is having a psychological effect on the teams? I know they're professionals but it's hard not to let these things affect you.

Phil replied: Fair point, Dave. Everton actually went on their best run for years after being deducted 10 points but since then have struggled, not winning a league game since December, and there is no doubt a cloud of uncertainty hangs over the clubs, which can have an impact.

I think we also have to factor in the simple fact that, at the moment, neither team is anywhere near good enough and their struggles are down to results.

Everton and Forest simply have to set all this to one side to try and focus on winning some football matches.

Manchester United have made Everton and England Under-21s defender Jarrad Branthwaite their main summer transfer target. (Star), external

United will push ahead with a bid for Branthwaite, who is valued at £75m by Everton, regardless of manager Erik ten Hag's future. (Mirror), external

Everton are keen on Hull City's 23-year-old English defender Jacob Greaves, who is expected to move to the Premier League this summer, if the Championship club miss out on promotion. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer news? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

BBC Sport's chief football writer Phil McNulty has been answering your questions on Monday.

@ChrisGill95 asked: Sean Dyche must be the safest under pressure manager ever. One win in 15 or no league victories in 11 – take your pick. But Everton appear to have no choice, especially as no-one seems to know where the power lies at Goodison Park. Would you stick or twist?

Phil replied: I think you’re absolutely right about the power vacuum at the club, Chris. Who would even take such a decision? Farhad Moshiri is still the owner but he is in the process of trying to sell the club to 777, who have a very chequered track record and are still awaiting Premier League approval. It is perfectly understandable that the Premier League are checking them very closely as their history in the sport is hardly convincing.

As for Dyche, it has to be stick for now because really it’s too late to do anything else and who would Everton get anyway?

There is no doubt, though, that the pressure would be greater if an owner was more invested in the club currently. Everton, and their football, have been desperate since December and in this case all the talk of points deductions may just have disguised that.

I think we must see how the ownership plays out and then decisions can be made on managers and future direction.

Image source, Getty Images

Everton winger Dwight McNeil says the Toffees will "keep believing" but says profligacy in front of goal is "hurting us".

Sean Dyche's team registered 23 shots on goal in the 2-0 loss at Manchester United on Saturday - their most without scoring in a Premier League game since March 2010.

"Confidence is low in the final part [of the pitch],” McNeil admitted. "We had a lot of chances but didn’t score a goal.

"We get a lot of chances but we just aren’t getting the final bit right - scoring goals. That’s hurting us at the minute and we aren’t picking points up because we can’t find the back of the net.

"We try and work on it every day. We getting there in the games, those final moments, I had a few chances and should have scored definitely one I think. I put a lot of pressure on myself but we had other chances and we didn’t take them and we got punished."

The Toffees do not play again until facing Bournemouth after the international break on 30 March and McNeil believes this gives an opportunity for him and his team-mates to regroup after a poor run of no wins in their last 11 Premier League games.

"We have three weeks until we play again," he added. "We have to evaluate as a team, the main thing is we need to all stay together and keep believing because we are in that position again like last season.

"But we have experience in the group, we just have to try and score goals. That’s a big thing, but more importantly, win games. We need to make sure we do that after the international break.

"We are going to rest, reflect and make sure we are ready when we come back because it’s a massive run-in - every game is going to be massive. We have to be ready to score goals and win games."

As the Premier League heads into the business end of the season, statisticians Opta have been putting the remaining fixtures through their 'supercomputer' to predict who will finish where in the table at the end of the campaign.

Everton, who currently sit in 16th on 25 points, are among a number of teams fighting to keep their place in the Premier League.

They next face Bournemouth on 30 March, before playing Newcastle, Burnley and Chelsea.

According to Opta, the Toffees are likely to stay up this season with a 16th-place finish on 37.49 points. However, that does not account for any further point deductions.

But what do you think Everton fans? Do you agree with the prediction or do you think Sean Dyche's side are in trouble?

Have your say here

We asked for your thoughts on Saturday's game between Manchester United and Everton.

Here are some of your responses:

Man Utd fans

Pete: Another painful game to watch. No urgency, creativity and seemingly no defence. The amount of times they gave the ball away is just embarrassing. Champions League? No chance!

Nicko: Given a settled team, as per last season, Erik ten Hag is very capable of making a league-winning team. He's done a good job this year with all the patching up he's had to do because of injuries. This result shows that defensively we were strong. Twenty shots sounds a lot for Everton, but not many were on target, so our defence wasn't allowing easy chances.

Les: Just an average mid-table team who can't defend against a strong, hard-running team. A few talented individuals but can't play as a collective unit. Only get results against teams below them. A number of players overrated and lazy. Ten Hag is a dead man walking.

Melanie: All in all, it was a good game but I’m a bit disappointed with Casemiro giving the ball away. His passing was terrible.

Everton fans

David: So frustrating watching our performance in the final third every weekend! Nobody taking the chances in front of goal, confidence draining away at each game! I would get Rooney in now to work with those strikers and prep for the final 10 games - it can't do any harm and I think he'd be well up for it! If anyone knows how to score a goal he does!

Kevin: This is becoming an uncomfortable trend. We defend well throughout the 90 minutes but cannot take our chances. We have strikers at the club who go into the penalty box in hope rather than belief that they will score. The main positive is that we are at least creating chances and now have a steady run of fixtures. (Famous last words!)

Mark: Unless we can start to score goals, we’re going to get pulled deep into relegation. I fear our end of season escapes may not be repeated this season.

Alex: Despite conceding two penalties, we have a very good backline. If it wasn’t for our defence, we’d be relegated already. Our attacking players have run out of ideas. We are woeful in the final third. Beto has proved to be nowhere near good enough for the Premier League. Dominic Calvert-Lewin can’t be relied on. We are appalling up front. No goals again.

Everton are in trouble.

Saturday's defeat at Manchester United means they have now taken five points from 11 Premier League games.

They have scored more than once in a game only once since 16 December.

With matches against all the sides below them still to play, the situation is salvageable.

But manager Sean Dyche feels he has the answer to Everton's scoring woes.

"When I was at Forest as a young player, Brian Clough used to say to us ‘you have to get hurt to score a goal’," he said.

"I was a midfield player at the time. I knew what he meant.

"They can’t all be beautiful goals. Sometimes you just have to get there, you have to fight, you have to score an ugly goal, a tough goal. You have to throw yourself at something to score a goal. Not just wait for all the lovely goals.

"Modern football has changed. There is a modern version of it. We are not talking massive challenges, that doesn’t happen any more. But getting in front of a defender, using your body to get there first. That sort of instinct.

"Having that tiny bit of devilment to get there before the defender, or before the keeper."

• Did you know? Everton have a shot conversion rate of just 7.3% in the Premier League this season, scoring 29 goals from 397 shots – their lowest rate in a campaign on record in the competition (since 1997-98). They had 23 shots against Manchester United; only v Wolves in March 2010 (24) have they had more in a Premier League away game on record (from 2003-04) without scoring.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Tottenham defender Stephen Kelly believes "lack of confidence" in front of goal is costing Everton after another defeat in which they had several promising openings without scoring.

The Toffees lost 2-0 against Manchester United on Saturday, despite having 23 shots to their opponents' 15.

"Some of it was final balls, some it was balls into good areas with nobody getting on the end of them," Kelly told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast. "You look at some of the crosses that flew across the box - there was one in particular which comes across twice and Calvert-Lewin just doesn't react to it.

"That's just the difference of having a confident striker, someone that is on the spot, picking the right positions and someone who is not feeling it at the moment and can't buy a goal.

"To go to Manchester United and have almost equal possession and have more shots at Old Trafford when they're near the bottom of the league is a pretty good showing for them. It's just not falling for them and I think Dyche hits the nail on the head - it's just that extra little yard.

"I don't think it's a lack of wanting to do it, I think it's a lack of confidence to get themselves into those areas in that final third. They're just not confident at the moment but if it does click they'll push back up that table.

"For the last three or four seasons they've been down there fighting it and at some point if you're down there long enough it will happen.

"They have to pull it together, they have to get things going if they want to claw themselves away from it."

• Did you know? Everton remain winless in 11 Premier League games (D5 L6), the longest ongoing run of any side currently in the competition. Away from home, the Toffees have lost four of their last six league games (D2), more than their previous 15 on the road beforehand (W6 D6 L3).

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Gary Lineker introduces highlights and analysis from Saturday's five Premier League fixtures.

If you missed Match of the Day, you can catch up on the action on BBC iPlayer.

Listen back to Saturday's BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Sports Extra match commentaries in full:

• Crystal Palace v Luton Town

• Arsenal v Brentford

Simon Stone
BBC Sport senior football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester United's tactic at Old Trafford wasn't 'let Everton shoot because they won't score' but it might as well have been.

Everton's form in front of goal has been poor all season.

Their latest defeat is another reminder of how costly it could be.

With more composure, Everton could have recorded a rare win at Old Trafford. The number of times players had a clear sight of goal but failed to threaten the target was shocking.

It was not just one man either. Most of the offensive players - including substitutes - were guilty at one point or another, so another game drifts by without a precious win.

We are up to 11 now - and Luton play three times and Forest twice - before Everton are in action again, at Bournemouth, on 30 March.

There have been some difficult seasons at Goodison Park recently, With another profit and sustainability hearing looming, this is shaping up to be the hardest of the lot.