Alan Shearer makes new Premier League relegation prediction after Everton punishment

Everton have dropped down to 19th after it was confirmed they had been deducted 10 points for breaching profit and sustainability rules, with the Toffees now two points from safety

Alan Shearer has admitted he doesn't think Everton will be relegated from the Premier League this season, despite their 10-points deduction.

On Friday, the Toffees were docked a record-breaking 10 points for breaching Premier League profit and sustainability rules. The punishment was brought in with immediate effect, meaning Sean Dyche's side moved from 14th and down to second bottom, level on points with 20th-place Burnley.

After a difficult start to the campaign, Everton have improved in recent weeks, having won four of their last six matches in all competitions. That included three victories in the Premier League, which had propelled them to eight points clear of the dreaded drop zone.

However, Everton's 10-point deduction has since plummeted them back into the bottom three, with Dyche's men now just two points from safety. Despite this, ex-Newcastle forward Shearer believes that Everton will stay in the Premier League as the standard at the bottom "is as bad as it has been for a long time".

Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Shearer said: "If there is a going to be a time when you are deducted 10 points, this probably the season in which you think, 'at least we’ve got a realistic chance of getting ourselves out of the mess that we're in'.

"Because the standard at the bottom half this season is as bad as it has been for a long time. I think they can recover, I think they will get out of it.

"Such is what I have seen in the last five or six weeks that I believe they would have definitely stayed up [without the points deduction]. Even with this 10-point deficit, I think they will stay up, I think they will have enough, yeah."

The Toffees could be plunged into further trouble after it was reported that Burnley, Leeds and Leicester have indicated their intention to sue Everton for a combined figure of £300million. This is after Burnley were relegated in 2021/22, while Leeds and Leicester both lost their top-flight places last season.

Everton reacted to the 10-point deduction with a club statement. It read in full: "Everton Football Club is both shocked and disappointed by the ruling of the Premier League’s Commission.

"The Club believes that the Commission has imposed a wholly disproportionate and unjust sporting sanction. The Club has already communicated its intention to appeal the decision to the Premier League. The appeal process will now commence and the Club’s case will be heard by an Appeal Board appointed pursuant to the Premier League’s rules in due course.

"Everton maintains that it has been open and transparent in the information it has provided to the Premier League and that it has always respected the integrity of the process. The Club does not recognise the finding that it failed to act with the utmost good faith and it does not understand this to have been an allegation made by the Premier League during the course of proceedings.

"Both the harshness and severity of the sanction imposed by the Commission are neither a fair nor a reasonable reflection of the evidence submitted.

"The Club will also monitor with great interest the decisions made in any other cases concerning the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules. Everton cannot comment on this matter any further until the appeal process has concluded."

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