Everton are the latest club we’re profiling in our 2023/24 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) team previews.
We look at the Toffees’ best players in FPL, analyse what’s been happening on Merseyside over the summer and take a stab at a predicted line-up for Gameweek 1.
Our stats-based review of Everton’s 2022/23 campaign is available to read here.
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EVERTON: REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL
Love him or hate him, Sean Dyche’s side do tend to have an identity. “Hard graft” is what the Everton boss said he wanted upon his appointment, and he certainly got that from his new troops.
Clean sheets also tend to follow Dyche around, with Burnley hitting double figures for those in four of his last five full seasons in charge.
The Toffees ranked a very respectable joint-sixth for shut-outs (five) following his pre-Gameweek 22 appointment in 2022/23.
The former Clarets boss also made his new side a threat at corners and free-kicks: Everton were third for xG from set plays after he came aboard.
EVERTON: REASONS TO BE FEARFUL
Goalscoring is the main concern.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m) has sat out more than half of Everton’s games in the last two seasons and there’s not been much in reserve.
The Toffees’ underlying attacking numbers were actually not that bad in 2022/23 (12th for big chances, for example). But they ranked a sorry 19th for the most crucial stat of all: goals. Nobody scored fewer at home and only Wolverhampton Wanderers were worse overall.
The negative difference between Everton’s expected goals (xG) and their actual goals scored was the worst in the league.
SUMMER TRANSFER ACTIVITY
Another ‘reason to be fearful’ is the summer transfer activity, or lack of it.
The Toffees haven’t spent a dime on a transfer fee at the time of writing, with only freebie Ashley Young (£4.5m) and loanee Arnaut Danjuma (£5.5m) arriving so far.
Both acquisitions look like astute signings.
The versatile veteran Young has shone in pre-season on both the left wing and at left-back, even notching a goal.
Danjuma is equally adept at playing in a variety of positions, including up front; he could be deployed through the middle if Calvert-Lewin is match-fit enough for Gameweek 1. He indeed featured there in the recent friendly against Stoke City.
PRE-SEASON REPORT
1-0, 0-0, 1-0: the results of Everton’s last three ‘proper’ friendlies have a Dychean feel to them.
Those clean sheets have all been against Football League opposition, it must be said, with the shortage of goals against lower-league outfits furthering the concerns we outlined above.
Despite scoring twice, Neal Maupay (£5.0m) hasn’t done much to suggest he’s the solution to the ongoing drought.
Two of the main talking points we’ve already addressed above, namely the ‘out of position’ run-outs for Young (briefly) and Danjuma.
Injuries are another headline.
Calvert-Lewin marked his comeback with a 45-minute showing against Monza in a behind-closed-doors friendly on August 1.
But Dwight McNeil (£5.5m) is now a concern after he hobbled out of that win over Stoke. Young and Danjuma are possibilities to deputise, if the news is bad.
- REMAINING PRE-SEASON FIXTURES: v Sporting (August 5)
OPENING FIXTURES
It’s a mixed bag in the first six Gameweeks, the clashes with Aston Villa, Arsenal and Brentford being the stiffest tests on paper.
But it’s the games at Goodison Park that really stand out. Aside from the visit of the Gunners, Everton enjoy a favourable run in which Fulham, Wolves, Luton and Bournemouth all visit Merseyside.
A cheap Everton asset could be playable in a handful of early-season matches, therefore, and benched in between.
PREDICTED GAMEWEEK 1 LINE-UP
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