Everton were stunned at home after Watford scored five past the Mersyside team and handed them their third defeat of the season. The team is currently in the eighth position with 14 points in the English Premier League table.
Everton made an unbeaten start to the season and suffered their first defeat in the fifth game against Aston Villa. The Toffees are without their main striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin who got injured in the third game of the season against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Before getting injured Calvert-Lewin scored three goals and two were from the penalty spot. In his absence, Richarlison has started as the striker in one game and Salomon Rondon has started the previous five games due to the absence of both the players. Calvert-Lewin averaged 1.09 goals per 90 in the three games he featured. The England international has attempted 11 shots with seven shots on target.
The above table shows Salomon Rondon stats this season. The forward has featured in all six matches after Calvert-Lewin’s injury. He is yet to open his account for Everton in the league and his xG rate is 0.66. He has only attempted six shots and only one shot has been on target.
Richarlison is the other striking option available with Rafa Benitez. The Brazilian has featured in five matches and has two goals and an assist to his name. He scored in the previous game after coming off the bench. Richarlison has attempted ten shots and his four shots have been on target.
Since Calvert-Lewin’s absence, there has been only one goal contribution by a striker and that was a goal scored by Richarlison. The midfielders have made the goal contributions since his absence. In the above viz we can see three Everton players in the goal contribution chart. The team scored seven goals in the first three games and eight goals in the next six games. The average goal scored per game has decreased. Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray have scored three goals each and Abdoulaye Doucoure has scored two goals. The strikers have made six goals contributions compared to 19 contributions by the midfielders.
Everton have attempted 108 shots in the nine games played. A total of 37 shots have been on target with an average of four shots on target per match. In the first three games, the Toffees attempted 45 shots. The average shots per game decreased from 15 shots to 12 shots. Out of the 45 shots, 19 were on target. The shot accuracy of the team was 42.2% and now the accuracy rate is 34.2%.
The Toffees earned seven points in the first three games of the season. After Calvert-Lewin got injured, they have managed to earn seven points in six games. The attacking threat of the team has gone low with only one contribution towards the goal by a striker. Richarlison missed four games and summer signing Salomon Rondon has not made any impact on the team. The manager has no other striking options and this could be a concern in the upcoming matches. Richarlison’s goal in the previous game could be a boost but he still needs to show the consistency of a top striker. Rafa Benitez could make a move for a striker in the upcoming transfer window to boost up his attacking options.
