View: The Everton man quickly becoming the best in the Premier League
Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin seemed to transition from young player with promise to elite Premier League attacker pretty quickly.
First coming to real prominence in an Everton shirt under Sam Allardyce, he was seen as a mobile forward capable of running the channels, but not necessarily someone that could dominate defenders and lead the line so effectively.
His form really took off though following the arrival of Italian manager Carlo Ancelotti last December, and he ended the 2019-20 season with Premier League goals in double figures for the first time.
That form has simply continued so far this season and with eight league goals from his first seven matches, he is starting to look like one of the best centre-forwards in the division. Advanced metrics back this up too, with Calvert-Lewin acquiring and scoring more chances than many of his rivals.
So far this term, the 23-year-old has generated more non-penalty expected goals than any other player in the division, with 5.0. When measured per 90, he is generating 0.74, which is second to only Gareth Bale who has played just 40 minutes this season (via FBRef).
With eight goals in the league so far, it means that while Calvert-Lewin is outscoring his xG, usually unsustainable over a lengthy period of time, he is creating more high-quality opportunities for himself than any other player in the league.
While Harry Kane, Callum Wilson and Jamie Vardy have generated more xG than the England man overall, much of this is the result of penalties.
Furthermore, Calvert-Lewin’s shooting is very accurate when he does make a chance for himself. Only Diogo Jota gets more shots on target per 90 than the Everton man in the Premier League, while he has scored around one in three of his efforts so far this season.
Of course, these statistics are derived from just seven Premier League appearances so far this season. However, they are purely a continuation on last year and especially the point since Ancelotti’s arrival. If he can keep his current form up, it will soon be beyond doubt whether he is one of the best number nines in the league.
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