Goodison Stats: Doucoure improves massively in Everton win v Fulham
Abdoulaye Doucoure did more than simply score his first goal for Everton on Sunday as the Blues beat Fulham 3-2 away at Craven Cottage.
Doucoure, 27, arrived at Goodison Park in September after the Toffees agreed to pay Watford £20million for the central midfielder [BBC Sport].
While Doucoure had not been one of the stand-out players for Everton in the opening weeks of the season as they briefly topped the Premier League table, he’s still been a consistent performer in Carlo Ancelotti’s midfield and there are no real doubts about whether he was worth the money shelled out for him.
But now, the ex-Watford player has set a new standard for himself in Ancelotti’s 3-4-3 formation as he absolutely tore it up against Fulham at the weekend.
Not only did Doucoure score what turned out to be the match-winning goal with a towering header in the 35th minute, but he also played such a vital role for Everton when they were both in and out of possession.
According to stats by WyScout, Doucoure completed 96 per cent of all the passes he attempted at Craven Cottage, completing 100 per cent of those he played into the final-third.
As you can see in the chart below, Doucoure massively outperformed his season-averages in key categories for a box-to-box midfielder.
But it was Doucoure’s work off the ball that impressed us both.
Although Fulham managed to score two goals and Everton went yet another match without keeping a clean sheet (their last in the league was on the opening day versus Tottenham), the home side would have scored more if it wasn’t for Doucoure.
The ex-France youth international made a whopping 12 interceptions at Craven Cottage when his season average per 90 minutes is only 4.42.
He was also up on his number of recoveries and clearances while reducing the number of times he lost the ball to five [WyScout].
Doucoure really impressed us on Sunday and with Leeds United up next, he’ll need to be on his toes against a side that creates goalscoring opportunities for fun.
But based on those numbers against Fulham, we have faith in the midfielder to be able to step up and really make a difference at Goodison Park on Saturday evening.
In other Everton news, Kevin Campbell has been raving about what happened in the win over the Cottagers.