Crystal Palace and Fulham’s relegation rivals hit with huge points deduction just before clash with Chelsea

Crystal Palace and Fulham have been handed a huge boost in their hopes of surviving in the Premier League with rivals Everton receiving a 10 point deduction.

The Toffees have been found to have breached the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules leading to the biggest sporting sanction in the history of the competition.

The punishment sees Everton drop from 14th to second bottom in the table, leaving them only narrowly ahead of Sean Dyche’s former club Burnley on goal difference.

The club claimed they were “both shocked and disappointed” by the ruling and added that the punishment was “wholly disproportionate and unjust.”

BBC Sport revealed that Everton posted financial losses for the fifth successive year in March after reporting a £44.7m deficit during the 2021/22 season.

Premier League clubs are currently permitted to lose £105m over a three-year-period but Everton losses during that time amounted to £124.5m.

An Everton statement said: “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 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 profitability and sustainability rules.”

Everton are just the third side in Premier League history to receive a points deduction - Middlesbrough were deducted three points in 1996/97 for failing to fulfil a fixture against Blackburn, while Portsmouth in 2009/10 were deducted nine points for going into administration.

Both clubs were relegated following these sanctions. However, Dyche will be hopeful that his side can overcome this setback.

As it stands Everton are two points behind 17th place Luton Town, while Dyche’s team also boast a vastly superior goal difference to the teams around them.

Everton will hope to react in a positive manner on the pitch when they host Manchester United after the international break on Sunday 26 November.

Attention then turns to a busy festive period in December as the club face the likes of Nottingham Forest, Newcastle, Chelsea and Burnley.

They also play host to Fulham in the Carabao Cup quarter-final on Tuesday 19 December.