There’s a long road ahead for Everton, but Sean Dyche and his tactical coterie will know that his journey may come to an abrupt halt if he doesn’t spark life into his team today.
Everton travel to the King Power Stadium to face Leicester City in the Premier League after losing each of their opening four fixtures on top of crashing out of the Carabao Cup in midweek against Southampton, losing on penalties.
We need not go into the nature of the recent losses, but the Blues will take some small degree of solace from the fact that they have proven they can storm into the lead. Dyche has likely drilled home this exact message in preparation for the Foxes clash.
Everton were beset by injury misfortune last week and saw a host of first-team stars sidelined for the defeat earlier this week, but now, Dyche is hopeful that his outfit is approaching full fitness.
Everton team news
Jarrad Branthwaite is on the cusp of returning from the hamstring injury that has ruled him out for the start of the 2024/25 campaign. He won’t, however, be fit for today’s fixture, instead playing with the U21s as he works toward full fitness.
The same can be said for right-back Nathan Patterson, who is dearly missed given Seamus Coleman is set to be sidelined indefinitely after picking up an injury with Ireland at the start of September.
Furthermore, the Toffees faithful will be delighted to hear that several first-teamers – including Dominic Calvert-Lewin – have returned after missing the midweek cup exit due to injury. James Tarkowski has also returned to training and will hopefully start the contest.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin's fitness will be key
Calvert-Lewin could be the key to success against Steve Cooper’s Leicester. Armando Broja, brought in from Chelsea this summer, is still not fit, whereas Beto is fit but certainly not flying. The Brazilian has scored just six goals from 43 matches for Everton.
2024/25
4 (4)
2
1
2023/24
32 (26)
7
2
2022/23
17 (15)
2
1
2021/22
17 (15)
5
2
2020/21
33 (32)
16
1
2019/20
36 (30)
13
1
2018/19
35 (19)
6
2
2017/18
32 (18)
4
5
2016/17
11 (5)
1
0
When he’s fit, the 11-cap England international – with four goals – is such a commanding physical presence from the front of the team. Good fitness, however, has not been his friend in recent years, scoring only 14 goals across the past three completed Premier League campaigns.
He did start to look “like the DCL of old” under Dyche’s wing last year, as was said by The Athletic’s Paddy Boyland, and now, after starting all four of Everton’s Premier League games this term, scoring twice and claiming one assist, he’s well placed to play an instrumental part in the fight to escape the brewing relegation battle.
Let’s hope he’s ready to start this afternoon. Fingers crossed. Calvert-Lewin’s absence would run counter to Dyche’s plans of jumping out of the division’s bottom spot.
A whole host of further changes need to be made. Orel Mangala made his starting debut for the club against Saints, but with James Garner sure to start in the centre of the park, the Belgian midfielder must return to the bench, with Tim Iroegbunam given the nod once again.
Dyche must unleash Tim Iroegbunam
Everton’s summer dealing with Aston Villa had a ring of PSR evasive action about it. Several teams were passing along prospects as if working some clandestine operation.
This was necessary, of course. Everton did not want to suffer another points deduction in the Premier League, and so Lewis Dobbin moved to Aston Villa, with the Blues welcoming Iroegbunam in return, with the 21-year-old midfielder signing for a reported fee of £9m.
If anyone thought this was merely a move to appease the division’s financial regulations, maybe they were correct. However, Everton appear to have landed an excellent piece of business, with Dobbin out on loan with Derby County in the Championship and Iroegbunam thriving (on a personal level) in the English top flight.
Robust and carrying elite athletic properties, the former Villan youth has started all four Premier League fixtures from the middle of the park and will bring a punchy presence to battle against Leicester.
Everton missed him against Southampton. Much was said about the visitors’ domination of the ball, but Everton only won 44% of the contested duels. Iroegbunam has the defensive skillset to turn that problem around, as his season statistics highlight.
Matches (starts)
4 (4)
Goals
0
Assists
0
Touches*
40.0
Pass completion
74%
Key passes*
0.5
Ball recoveries*
8.0
Dribbles completed
1.3
Tackles + interceptions*
5.8
Total duels won
7.3
Everton are very much a counter-attacking team, ranking 19th in the league for possession so far this term, and Iroegbunam is admittedly not a refined distributor.
He is, however, a progressive player and tough-tackling monster, ranking among the top 2% of midfielders across the whole of Europe for tackles won and the top 10% for successful take-ons per 90. The aforementioned Boyland has even hailed him as the “standout” of Everton’s season so far.
Dyche knows as well as anyone that defeat against newly-promoted Leicester could spell out dismissal before supporters had moved through the turnstiles as they trudge back to Merseyside.
The squad will fight tooth and nail to ensure that doesn’t happen, and, for certain, Iroegbunam could be instrumental in chipping away at the hosts’ centre, allowing the forwards, such as Calvert-Lewin, to score, and the backline to rectify past mistakes and protect Jordan Pickford’s net.
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