Dyche dismissal is a risk that puts Everton’s need to stay up in sharp focus | Jonathan Wilson

Manager’s sacking is no shock given his dour football but successor has a perilous task. Could Moyes be the right fit?

It was life, but was it living? Everton have lost only four of their past 16 games in all competitions. They have kept five clean sheets in their past eight games and in the past month have frustrated Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City. They’ve taken 17 points from 19 games this season, which the past decade of the Premier League would suggest, if repeated in the second half of the season, would leave them right on the edge of relegation.

Given the trend is for the relegated three to get fewer and fewer points, the sense is that, even with Wolves and Ipswich showing signs of improvement, they would probably have survived if Sean Dyche had stayed.

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