After another season of just missing relegation by the skin of their teeth, Everton enter a new Premier League campaign looking for better results. Manager Sean Dyche has revamped the squad a little bit by adding veteran presence in Ashley Young as well as young talent in Arnaut Danjuma and Youssef Chermiti though losing Yerry Mina is a big loss. This season’s team is intriguing, but still has lots of questions and Dyche will look to answer the questions.
One of the biggest issues with the club was the lack of scoring as they tallied 34 goals, second lowest in the competition. A key factor would be to keep Dominic Calvert-Lewin healthy, but that’s a big ask considering the mystery behind why he can’t stay healthy. When he is, Calvert-Lewin is a dynamic striker. While Dyche made Everton’s attack more effective once he took over mid-season, he needs reinforcements if the club wants to stay up. While other quality players like Amadou Onana and Dwight McNeil exist in the lineup, Danjuma and Chermiti adds more punch that should also help make the defense better as players like Abdoulaye Doucoure won’t be forced to do more in their own attack causing more holes for opposing attackers to get through. It will also be interesting to see how Alex Iwobi will be used as he was more effective in the center of the field.
Finances are a huge problem for Everton for obvious reasons, but they have done a nice bit of business so far that could help them stay up and adding MSP Sports Capital to the board should help with business. There is still time to bring in more players as the transfer deadline is not yet over and there’s another one that opens in January. It will be interesting how the defense shapes as Jarrad Branthwaite could be given an opportunity to show what he can do. Dyche usually relies on experience in his 4-4-2, but considering the interest Branthwaite has attracted this offseason, it might be wise to use his talents, though whom should he be paired up with is a big question. Jordan Pickford is still manning the net as he is clearly one of the best goalkeepers in the league and that’s a huge boost for the Toffees.
Fixtures
Match 1: vs Fulham
Match 2: at Aston Villa
Match 3: vs Wolves
Match 4: at Sheffield United
Match 5: vs Arsenal
Match 6: at Brentford
Match 7: vs Luton Town
Match 8: vs Bournemouth
Match 9: at Liverpool
Match 10: at West Ham
Match 11: vs Brighton and Hove
Match 12: at Crystal Palace
Match 13: vs Manchester United
Match 14: at Nottingham Forest
Match 15: vs Newcastle
Match 16: vs Chelsea
Match 17: at Burnley
Match 18 at Tottenham
Match 19: vs Manchester City
Match 20: at Wolves
Match 21: vs Aston Villa
Match 22: at Fulham
Match 23: vs Tottenham
Match 24: at Manchester City
Match 25: vs Crystal Palace
Match 26: at Brighton and Hove
Match 27: vs West Ham
Match 28: at Manchester United
Match 29: vs Liverpool
Match 30: at Bournemouth
Match 31: at Newcastle
Match 32: vs Burnley
Match 33: at Chelsea
Match 34: vs Nottingham Forest
Match 35: vs Brentford
Match 36: at Luton Town
Match 37: vs Sheffield United
Match 38: at Arsenal
This is an interesting schedule for the club. While Fulham and Aston Villa right off the bat are tough, they are still winnable matches. Arguably in the first 14 matches could be the most important going up against a good amount of clubs who also struggled to stay out of the relegation battle like West Ham, Wolves, Brentford, Bournemouth, and Nottingham Forest as well as newly promoted sides like Sheffield United and Luton Town. If they want to stay above the relegation zone, this is a golden opportunity for them to capitalize. Things get tougher in the middle, but luckily the club has another golden opportunity matches 30-37 just in case the battle gets too close. Things can change as the season goes on, but just from the beginning of the season, that’s how things look.
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