There was delight for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) owners of James Tarkowski (£5.7m) and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£5.1m), as both scored in a comfortable home win that has Everton dreaming of European football.
Here are our Scout Notes from the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
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- READ MORE: Tuesday’s goals, assists, bonus + ‘DefCon’ points
GARNER + DEWSBURY-HALL
The Toffees’ first home victory in almost three months was largely because of two cheap FPL midfielders.
As predicted by ‘Assists Imminent’, James Garner (£5.2m) set up a goal for the second time in a row. Both matches ended with defensive contribution (DefCon) rewards too, securing these in 11 of his last 14 outings. That’s almost at the level of notorious Nottingham Forest collector Elliot Anderson (£5.4m).
Furthermore, Garner’s season-long rate of 5.5 crosses per 90 minutes has helped him create 10 big chances.
Before Wednesday’s action, this is only bettered by Bruno Fernandes (£10.0m), Rayan Cherki (£6.4m), Declan Rice (£7.5m) and Pedro Neto (£7.0m). He’s also the league’s number one corner taker (83) and number two free kick crosser (27).
It means Garner is currently the highest-scoring midfielder under £5.5m. However, some will still prefer teammate Dewsbury-Hall, having seen him put Everton two ahead after being slid through by Iliman Ndiaye (£6.2m), making the most of good play by the superb Dwight McNeil (£5.5m).
“Dwight’s [McNeil] performance at Newcastle was very good. He built on that and took that into tonight’s game, and we’re seeing a much-improved Ili [Ndiaye] and Gana after they come back from the Africa Cup of Nations.
“And also Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall improving greatly because he’s just beginning to get back to where he was before the hamstring injury. I think getting those players back on form is helping us play better and helping us get a bit better rhythm.” – David Moyes
The 27-year-old racked up five shots on the night, following a weekend assist against Newcastle United.
In his last 11 appearances that exceeded 45 minutes, five brought in nine or more points.
OR TIME TO SELL EVERTON ASSETS?
Then again, some were probably thinking of selling Everton players like these, Tarkowski and Jordan Pickford (£5.6m), as Arsenal and Chelsea are up next. Though their precious Blank Gameweek 31 participation should be appreciated.
Garner’s central free-kick allowed Tarkowski to head home his first goal of 2025/26. It ensured a 15-pointer for the centre-back, although his former club nearly busted another clean sheet right at the death, having done so versus Chelsea, Bournemouth and Newcastle in recent months.
This time, Lyle Foster‘s (£4.9m) close-range flick was denied by Pickford. So the Toffees secured their first shutout since Gameweek 22, following six in nine between Gameweeks 11 and 19.
Above: Statsbomb showing the late big chance for Lyle Foster
NO FLEMMING
Meanwhile, Burnley forward Zian Flemming (£5.3m) wasn’t in the squad at all, despite scoring in the Clarets’ previous two matches.
Head coach Scott Parker said he “picked up a slight calf injury on Saturday.”
