Chris Beesley examines the numbers behind Everton’s tactics in their 2-1 comeback win over Crystal Palace
Everton manager Sean Dyche hailed his side’s resilience following their 2-1 comeback win over Crystal Palace. After his side’s first Premier League victory of the season, the Blues boss said: “There have been a lot of question marks so to play in a nervy situation and see the game through properly like we know we can do and find the moments that can win the game.
“I don’t think we’ve been as far off as people think, especially the last few performances. But you’ve got to get things right in both boxes and I thought we did that.”
Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi fired the visitors in front from close range just 10 minutes into Saturday’s fixture at Goodison Park but a quickfire Dwight McNeil brace early in the second half with the Everton number seven netting in both the 47th and 54th minutes, turned the contest on its head. Just where was the game won and lost though? Here’s a statistical look at the key numbers from the game.
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Offensive
A rather different and more dynamic facet of Everton’s game was their ball carrying. In statistical terms, this means each instance that a player runs with the ball at his feet for at least five metres.
So far this season, the Blues have averaged just 2.33 ball carries per 90 minutes, a figure that sees them ranked 14th in the Premier League. However, they were joint first on this occasion with 6, alongside Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham.
In a similar vein, Dyche’s men enjoyed the best percentage score for successful dribbles in the division. Clocking 53% for the campaign so far, which puts them 11th, this time Everton were ahead of the entire Premier League with a figure of 73%.
Defensive
Everton certainly put a shift in out of possession. Normally, they’re averaging 77.17 ball recoveries, which is the ninth best in the Premier League, but against the Eagles, they were number one in the division with 101, which was one more than West Ham United in their 1-1 draw at Brentford.
The Blues also did a significant amount of this work up the field with 43 of these ball recoveries in their opponents’ half, the third highest in the Premier League behind Arsenal (60) and Brighton & Hove Albion (46), with their seasonal average of 26.5 putting them eighth overall.
There was also an upturn in interceptions, with the seasonal average of 42.5 (seventh) increased to 52, which placed Everton fourth after Leicester City (62), West Ham United (57), and Chelsea (53).
Although all eyes were on the returning breakthrough star of last season, Jarrad Branthwaite, as he made a triumphant return in his first outing this term, it was captain James Tarkowski who led by example here with 20 ball recoveries and 11 interceptions, putting him joint top in the Premier League in both categories last weekend alongside Fulham’s Joachim Andersen in the former and the aforementioned Guehi in the latter. On being appointed, Dyche spoke of how he wanted Everton to restore what their passionate fans wanted and said: “That starts with sweat on the shirt, effort and getting back to some of the basic principles of what Everton have stood for… Our aim is to put out a team that works, that fights, and wears the badge with pride.”
Passing
Although this was also better than normal, distribution remains an area that is not one of the Blues’ strong suits. Over the season, they’re rock bottom for both passes (298 average) and successful passes (234), although they moved up to 16th in each category here with figures of 339 and 260.
There are some types of passing where Everton are more prominent, though. Their five successful crosses were sixth best in the Premier League (they’re 11th for the season overall), while their three key passes put them ninth in an area they’re 11th again for the campaign, and their successful long passes (23) put them seventh for the week as opposed to ninth overall.
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