Last night's 3-2 defeat to relegation rivals Burnley, has left Everton's Premier League credentials hanging by a thread as a dogged relegation scrap looms.

The Toffees have managed to win just three Premier League games since the end of September, despite having initially made a promising start to the campaign.

A total of three red cards in their last four Premier League matches hints at a lack of discipline and an aura of frustration. The club is spiralling out of control.

To make things worse, the Frank Lampard appointment has not had the desired reaction and Everton now find themselves neck-and-neck with Burnley in terms of likelihood to be playing Championship football next season- at least, that's how the bookies see it, with Sky Bet offering both Burnley and Everton at even prices for relegation.

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The state of play

With 29 matches played, both clubs have nine cup finals remaining to save themselves. It looks like Newcastle and Leeds might have just done enough to keep their heads above water, with the lowest of the two (Leeds), sitting five points clear of Everton, despite having played 31 times.

In theory, Leeds are catchable, but the way their relegation rivals are playing right now new head coach Jesse Marsch will be feeling pretty comfortable.

Further down the abyss, we can rule Norwich out as absolute certainties for the drop. Meanwhile, Roy Hodgson's Watford loom in striking distance sitting just three points behind the Toffees having played a game extra.

The concerning thing for Everton fan's, though, is the fixture list...

Everton's fixtures

Manchester United (H)

Leicester City (H)

Liverpool (A)

Chelsea (H)

Leicester City (A)

Watford (A)

Brentford (H)

Crystal Palace (H)

Arsenal (A)

Breaking that down, from their last nine fixtures, Everton will only play two teams from the bottom half of Premier League table. Not to mention, clashing with four of the top seven clubs.

The game at Vicarage Road against Watford could be enormous for the blue side of Merseyside and Lampard will need to get his house in order prior to that trip, another loss at the hands of a relegation rival might prove fatal.

But how about Burnley and Watford, what do their run-ins look like?

Burnley fixtures

Norwich (A)

West Ham United (A)

Southampton (H)

Wolves (H)

Watford (A)

Aston Villa (H)

Tottenham Hotspur (A)

Aston Villa (A)

Newcastle United (H)

Watford fixtures

Leeds United (H)

Brentford (H)

Manchester City (A)

Burnley (H)

Crystal Palace (A)

Everton (H)

Leicester City (H)

Chelsea (A)

By comparison, six of Burnley's remaining games are against bottom half opposition, including another enormous clash against Watford on the 30th April.

Significantly for Watford, they have home fixtures against Everton, Burnley, Leeds and Brentford before the season is out which provides the Hornets with a real chance for a late survival push.

New Watford manager Roy Hodgson waving to the crowd

New Watford manager Roy Hodgson waving to the crowd

Could Lampard be about to steer Everton to a first relegation since the 1950-1951 season? Based on the fixtures, he likely could be.

Chelsea 1-3 Real Madrid highlights (The Football Terrace)