Everton draws 0-0 at Watford, 2 points above EPL drop zone

WATFORD, England (AP) — Everton moved further away from the bottom three in the Premier League after playing out a lackluster 0-0 draw at already relegated Watford on Wednesday.

Frank Lampard’s team went into the match having taken 10 points from its last five matches, lifting it out of the relegation zone and up to 16th — one point ahead of Burnley and Leeds.

Sunday’s victory at Leicester was Everton’s first on the road in the Premier League since August but the team was unable to follow it up with a second as Watford recorded its first post-pandemic clean sheet at Vicarage Road.

Everton is two points above third-to-last Leeds, which lost 3-0 to Chelsea on Wednesday.

Everton struggled despite coming up against a depleted Watford team making seven changes to the starting lineup from the 1-0 loss at Crystal Palace that confirmed relegation.

Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster was called upon to make saves from a deflected shot by Richarlison and a header from Michael Keane in a low-quality game marked by poor finishing.

___

More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports