MY ACCOUNT
Everton’s faltering frontline has fallen flat — and patience is wearing thin with boss Rafa Benitez at Goodison Park.
With no goals in three games and a winless run stretching back to September, the Toffees’ poor form has hit a new low.
But what can Benitez do to arrest his side’s slump and relieve the pressure that is building in the blue half of Liverpool?
Ahead of the first Merseyside derby of the season, we consider how the Spanish tactician can get Everton firing.
Regaining confidence
Boosting confidence is far easier said than done when you have lost five and drawn two of your last seven games, but Benitez has rightly highlighted a lack of belief as a contributing factor to Everton’s struggles.
It is also particularly significant as far as forwards are concerned.
Speaking after the 1-0 loss to Brentford last weekend, he said: “We didn’t deserve to lose, but the reality is the team is giving everything on the pitch and you can see the togetherness of the players.
“It is a question of confidence, missing players, but you could see what we were capable of doing at the beginning of the season.”
Shooting practice
Everton may rank eighth in the Premier League for overall shots taken (167), but accuracy has not been their forte this season.
Only Southampton (26.4%) and struggling Norwich (25.6%) have hit the target with a lower percentage of their attempts than the Toffees (27.9%).
Benitez’s outfit showed some signs of improvement in that regard last time out, mustering five shots on target.
That was more than they had managed in their previous two games combined though, so finding some consistency in front of goal must be a priority in the weeks ahead.
Returning stars
Having been forced off injured early in Everton’s 3-0 defeat at Manchester City, Demarai Gray made a swift comeback as a 70th-minute substitute on Sunday.
The summer signing from Bayer Leverkusen has arguably been the Toffees’ star man this season — he is their joint-top scorer in the league with three goals and has chipped in with two assists.
Also back for the visit of Liverpool will be Richarlison, who has served his one-match ban for picking up five yellow cards.
Benitez will have been unimpressed by the booking-prone Brazilian’s suspension due to ill-discipline, but Richarlison remains a key figure with the continued absence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Bring dead balls to life
So often we hear what a great leveller set-pieces are — and Everton are simply not making theirs count.
Only Southampton (one) and Manchester United (zero) have scored fewer goals than the Toffees’ two from dead-ball situations this term.
And that is not just down to wastefulness inside the box either. Only Southampton (three), Brighton (2.5) and Watford (2.4) are posting a lower set-piece expected goals output than Everton’s 3.2.
With the deliveries of Lucas Digne, Andros Townsend and Gray, as well as the aerial threat of Michael Keane and Salomon Rondon, Benitez really ought to be getting more out of his side from free-kicks and corners.
Keep the crosses coming
Having not attempted more than 11 crosses in any of their previous three matches, the Toffees put in 25 deliveries from open play against Brentford.
It was the joint-highest output by Benitez’s team in a single game so far this season, while seven successful open-play crosses also equalled their best record in an individual match.
Continuously crossing the ball is not a guaranteed route to goal but Everton have the players to maximise such an approach.
Star striker Calvert-Lewin may be sidelined, but a quarter of Richarlison’s Premier League goals have been headers — as have more than a third of Rondon’s.
The hosts will be able to learn from the goalscoring masters when they host the Premier League top scorers.
For Benitez to feel more comfortable in the Goodison Park hotseat, they will need to hope they pass this examination with reputations intact.
