Ever since Everton were deducted ten points during the November international break, the side have been one of the Premier League’s in-form teams.
However, three consecutive losses in a row, including two in the top flight, have shown that there is a lot of work still to do as the Toffees teeter merely a point above the relegation zone.
Sean Dyche’s men were beaten once more at Goodison Park on Wednesday night. Despite taking the lead during the game, the Merseyside club were eventually bested 3-1 by Manchester City.
While losing to City is never the end of the world, there were a few players that underperformed yet again for Everton.
Everton's game in numbers
Dyche’s side battled hard in the opening 45 minutes and took the lead before the half-hour mark through Jack Harrison, who scored just his third goal of the campaign, although only four players have found the net more times than the Leeds United loanee.
In the first half, the hosts had only 26% of the ball as the visitors dominated most of the play. Nevertheless, the Toffees will have been more than happy to cede possession to Pep Guardiola’s men.
Everton were keen to sit deep in a low defensive block and hit City on the break which worked quite well in the first half as the home team registered four shots which recorded an xG of 0.68 compared to City’s 1.03.
However, in the second half, the relegation battlers let the game pass them by and conceded an xG of 1.56 in total while registering merely 0.3 xG during the final 45 minutes, according to FotMob. City scored all three of their goals after the interval which Dyche will be disappointed with as Everton’s midfield and backline began to crumble.
One player in particular underperformed for Everton and may have played his way out of the starting lineup ahead of Saturday’s game away at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Amadou Onana’s game in numbers
Against Spurs last weekend, Amadou Onana stayed on for 79 minutes before Dyche made the wise call to remove the Belgian from the pitch. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, Everton went on to score a few minutes later and were pushing for an equaliser which never came in the 2-1 defeat.
Onana picked up a yellow card early in the game which rendered him rather idle for most of the contest, while he also lost 56% of his tackles and committed three fouls.
Nonetheless, due to injuries to Idrissa Gueye and Abdoulaye Doucoure ahead of City’s visit to Goodison, Onana kept his place in the starting lineup, but once again flattered to deceive the Gwladys Street End.
The 22-year-old was arguably the worst player on the pitch. Not only did he concede the penalty to make it 2-1 to City, handing the visitors all three points, but Onana also ended the match with a passing accuracy of just 74% which was lower than his midfield partner James Garner.
Additionally, Onana lost possession 12 times, gave away three fouls and lost 60% of his total ground duels. The former Lille man looked lost against Rodri and was handed a 6/10 match rating by 90min for his display.
Goals
0
Expected Goals
0
Assists
0
Expected Assists
0.01
Touches
48
Passing Accuracy
74%
Possession Lost
12
Fouls
3
Ground Duels Won
2
Ground Duels Lost
3
Stats via Sofascore
Doucoure is set to recover from his thigh injury ahead of Saturday’s trip to the Midlands and Dyche should certainly look to bring the club’s top goalscorer back into the fold by dropping Onana and moving Andre Gomes into a deeper position alongside Garner.