Can Frank Lampard save Everton from relegation this season?

Having been a top flight club since the 1954/55 season, Everton are one of English football’s most successful and notorious clubs.

The Toffees along with Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham are the only sides that have been in the Premier League since its inception and to have never dropped down into the Championship.

Despite not having tasted too much success as a club in the Premier League era, Everton would have certainly hoped to have more points on the board than they currently do at this stage in the season.

The Rafa Benitez experiment tried and failed, with the Toffees turning to Frank Lampard in an attempt to invigorate their season.

As yet, the results have been mixed for the Chelsea and England legend and his brief for the remainder of this season appears to be relatively clear; keep Everton in the Premier League.

Lampard has instantly been backed by the owners at Goodison Park, with January acquisitions Dele Alli and Donny van de Beek a clear indicator of how the Toffees are hoping to progress over the next few seasons.

That said, it has been broadly a season to forget for Everton, who sit just two places and four points above the drop zone.

At 5.00 to be relegated from the Premier League this season, the UK bookmakers clearly are not ruling out Everton’s slide continuing under Lampard, but he will be out to ensure that doesn’t happen this term.

Whilst the probability of Everton sliding down into the Championship looks relatively slim, results such as their defeat to Southampton last weekend, won’t inspire confidence into even the most hard nosed Everton fan.

There are plenty of other sides embroiled in relegation trouble currently too, as the race to avoid the drop looks set to go down to the wire.

Following a poor run of results under Claudio Ranieri, Watford did what they do best and decided to part ways with the Italian and bring in a fresh face in Roy Hodgson.

The former England manager has the chance to restart Watford’s season and claw back the 4-point deficit they currently have in the relegation zone.

Whilst many would argue that it does feel too little, too late for the Hornets to save their season, the race is far from done yet, but they have been heavily backed to drop back down into the Championship at 1.33.

It has been a tough campaign so far too for Burnley, who have only managed to win 2 league games this season and they look to be facing a real battle to stay up under Sean Dyche this term.

The Clarets currently have a 5 point gap to Premier League safety above them and at 1.57, the bookmakers clearly feel they are a serious relegation contender this season.

Norwich City have seen results and performances perk up slightly since the arrival of Dean Smith before Christmas, however they are still immersed in relegation trouble.

The Canaries have 17 points from 25 games played, they are languishing at the foot at the table and the mood at Carrow Road looks to be low.

It is a big ask for them to stay up, with their financial and pulling power incomparable to some of the teams around them and they are the favourites to go down at 1.14.