Every day on OTB AM ahead of the return of the Premier League on June 17th, we'll be running the rule over teams in groups of three or four in our new segment - Best Case/Worst Case.
Resident Premier League expert and commentator Nathan Murphy joined Eoin Sheahan this morning, and they discussed the best and worst-case scenarios for three Premier League clubs.
On Wednesday morning they ran the rule over Cyrstal Palace, Everton, and Leicester.
Crystal Palace
Current position: 11th
First game back: Bournemouth(a) - June 20th
NATHAN'S THOUGHTS:
"Similar to Burnley, they want to stay where they are. They don't have a squad to contest the Europa League if they were to qualify and they need to do enough to keep Wilfried Zaha.
"They kept him last summer, he hasn't gotten near the heights of a season ago. He's only scored three goals so far but he's still the only bit of X-Factor they have in that team and you would worry about where they would go if he were to leave.
"Palace were the team most disappointed to see the season finish up, they had won three matches in a row. They'd gone from a position where they'd been dragged into a relegation scrap having only won one of their previous eleven matches to now finding themselves in a rather comfortable position.
"It will be interesting to see what they do for the rest of the season. Does a manager of Roy Hodgson's experience use this as a trial for next season and experiment a little? Do you give the young players a chance when there is not a huge amount at stake?
"Trying to score goals and trying to come up with a system where they score more goals should be the main focus, as only Newcastle and Norwich have scored fewer goals this season. Their attacking wage bill, with Ayew, Zaha, Townsend, and Benteke, must be off the charts and they are not getting a huge return for it.
Everton
Current position: 12th
First game back: Liverpool (h) - June 21st
NATHAN'S THOUGHTS:
"The best-case scenario for Everton is Liverpool do not win the Premier League title at Goodison next week, of course, if City beat Arsenal, it can't happen, but that would be a disaster. While Liverpool supporters may not get the chance to celebrate it right now, if they could win the title at Everton, it would be special. preventing that has to be the aim for Everton right now.
"It had stuttered for the last few weeks, when Carlo Ancellotti can in, they managed a few decent runs, but one win in ten before football split up. Our last game on OTB was at Stamford Bridge for their 4-0 defeat of Chelsea. Chelsea were missing their entire midfield and Everton were more or less at full strength and they were dominated by a really young, energetic Chelsea side.
"A lot of the problems are still there, huge issues in midfield, Andrew Gomes only returning, is he at the level where he can run a game? Gylfi Sigurdsson is so flaky. They have so many attacking players who you just cannot trust.
"The exception is Richarlison, who I would have as the best player outside the top six, and they may struggle to hold on to him if teams are looking around in the summer.
"Richarlison has consistently delivered and Calvert-Lewin has stepped up too, but it's the players on the wings. Whether it's Bernard, Walcott, Iwobi, Sigurdsson, you've no idea if they are going to turn up or not on the day.
"They are safe, but Everton are a team, looking at their wage bill who should be a top-table side. The worry and frustration is that it was a disaster under Marco Silva and it was only getting worse.
"They seem to be back to the same old failings. How many times have we heard Seamus Coleman in a post-match interview bemoaning the lacy of consistency, the lack of fight, the frustration and it still seems to be there."
Leicester City
Current position: 3rd
First game back: Watford (a) - June 20th
NATHAN'S THOUGHTS:
"The best-case scenario for Leicester is they stay where they are and finish inside the Champions League positions. It would be a massive achievement for Brendan Rogers and one they would thoroughly deserve.
"They play scintillating football and they have the quality, you look through that side form top to bottom, there's still a core of players there who won the Premier League, Schmeichel is one of the best keepers in the Premier League. Their centre-half pairing is right up there, and so much brilliant young attacking talent in midfield from Tielemens, Harvey Barnes, James Maddison, all feeding in to Jamie Vardy. they are a brilliant team to watch.
"I hope they see it out, they had some difficulties before the break, they had only won one of five, they had lost to Manchester City, they had drawn with Wolves and Chelsea.
"They've got Watford, Brighton, Chelsea, Everton first up. If they can win the first two and get a bit of momentum back, you would expect they should have enough for a Champions League spot, whether it's top four or top five.
"There is no question they have been one of the top three teams in the Premier League this season.
"Maybe the best-case scenario is Manchester City start to think about Europe and take their eye off the ball as the season wears on and Leicester can push up and finish in second which would be an unbelievable achievement for Leicester, but I think third.
"If they finish third and stay where they are, they would be very happy with that."
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