Goodison Stats: DCL misses Digne more than Everton as a whole do
Lucas Digne is finally close to recovering from an ankle injury that has left the Everton left-back sidelined for the last seven Premier League matches.
Without the 27-year-old available, the Blues have managed to display a decent run of form by winning four games and drawing once in his absence. But Dominic Calvert-Lewin has massively struggled to get among the goals without the Frenchman’s influence from the left-flank and from set-pieces.
Calvert-Lewin, 23, started the season on fire with 10 goals in Everton’s first nine Premier League games. However, since Digne’s injury blow in the build-up to the defeat to Leeds on November 28, Calvert-Lewin has just one goal to his name in seven appearances.
And when you examine the stats, it is pretty easy to see how Calvert-Lewin’s struggles could be down to Digne’s absense.
As per Wyscout, the England striker has averaged fewer touches inside the penalty area, fewer shots at goal and fewer shots on target per Premier League appearance in the seven games Digne has been sidelined.
Interestingly, the numbers show that Calvert-Lewin has marginally been involved in more aerial duels since Digne’s injury.
One of the most surprising things about Digne’s absence is that it hasn’t affected Everton as a whole anywhere near as bad as it has affected Calvert-Lewin’s performances.
Everton have averaged a lot more shots on goal with Digne in the side than without him but the Blues have managed to average the same number of shots on target.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men have also fired more crosses into the box per game without Digne, even though stats by Wyscout show the Goodison left-back averages more crosses per 90 minutes of game-time than any other player in the Premier League [6.4].
It seems that Calvert-Lewin’s struggles do not coincide with Everton’s form and that is actually good news.
It shows that Ancelotti’s squad does not solely rely on one or two players to perform or be available to play. It shows that he has good options throughout the squad who are able to help score goals and win matches.
We want to see Digne back in the starting line-up as soon as he’s fully recovered.
But the fact that the Toffees have managed to show a good run of form without him is encouraging going into the second half of the Premier League campaign.
In other Everton news, our panel of Super Fans have discussed whether the FA Cup should be a priority this season.