Everton will be hosting Burnley at Goodison Park on Monday night in the last match of the fourth game week of the Premier League. Everton will be looking to continue their unbeaten run while Burnley will attempt to get their first win of the season.
Everton have started life under Rafa Benitez on a positive note and have been impressive since their 3-1 win against Southampton in the first game week. They have scored seven goals and conceded three goals so far. They sit in 6th position with seven points alongside the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United.
The above visual is a shot map for Everton’s attempts on goal in their game against Brighton. Everton had a total of 13 attempts on goal with four of those attempts on target. They recorded an xG of 1.50, which is high because of the number of opportunities they could create in dangerous positions on the pitch.
Demarai Gray has been impressive for the Toffees since his arrival in July. He has had a high impact on the game for Everton in his three starts. The pass map for Gray shows us exactly where he has been passing the ball to in his first three games. He has provided crosses in the box which have a high expected threat. Alongside Gray, Dominic Calvert-Lewin has had a great start to the season scoring a goal in each of their three games.
Burnley secured a point from their previous game against Leeds in a match where they could have taken home all three points. It was an impressive team effort from Sean Dyche’s men, who stuck to the game plan till the very end but conceded a scrappy goal when a Leeds shot was deflected in by striker Patrick Bamford. Burnley have only won one point in the season so far as they lost their opening two fixtures against Brighton and Liverpool.
The strongest point of Burnley’s game is the aerial prowess of their players. Burnley focus their game plan on attacking the opposition goal using set pieces and corners because they have players like Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes who have the physicality to win aerial balls. The above visual shows us their aerial duels in their match against Leeds. While they won 80% of their aerial duels while defending, they only lost five duels in the final third of the pitch. Burnley can try and capitalise on this ability of theirs to attack the Everton goal.
Everton have received a boost for their team as it has been reported Richarlison will be allowed to be a part of their squad against Burnley. Rafa Benitez’s side has been in good shape and will try to get their third win of the season. But if Burnley are put to the task of defending, they can be a very difficult team to score against and can also score goals out of small chances to change the flow of the game.
