View: Calvert-Lewin can push Everton towards Europe in next two games
Everton have the chance to move ahead of West Ham and push towards the Champions League spaces if they win their games this week.
The Toffees face strugglers Southampton on Monday evening, before travelling to the Hawthorns on Thursday to take on West Brom.
Six points will take Ancelotti’s men to 46, one better than the Hammers who currently sit fourth in the table.
If Everton are to move up the table they’ll need two big performances. One man key to their success this season has been Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Goodison News have looked into what sort of impact he could have in the upcoming fixtures.
Dodgy defences
As it stands, Calvert-Lewin is the joint-third highest goalscorer in the Premier League with 13 goals. In all competitions, he’s bagged 18 times for the Toffees since the season started, despite having spells on the sidelines.
He’ll be rubbing his hands looking at the next two fixtures. It’s fair to say, Southampton and West Brom have struggled at the back during the 2020/21 campaign.
After starting so well, the Saints in particular have taken an almighty slump. They’ve won just once in their last 13 top-flight matches. The worst of all undoubtedly coming at Old Trafford in their 9-0 defeat to Manchester United.
Southampton’s 43 goals conceded this season puts them level with Crystal Palace [WyScout]. Together, they’re worsened by only three teams in that department. The Saints also lose possession 102.56 times per match, which is the worst in the division.
In what was an off day for the Toffees, Calvert-Lewin failed to score against Southampton when the sides met in October. In fact, he failed to register a single shot on target, the only time he hasn’t this season. No doubt he’ll be hungry to make amends.
Once at the top of the table, they’re now a team in free fall. But they’re in a better position than Thursday’s opponents.
West Brom are fighting for their lives at the moment. A win on Saturday against Brighton gave them three crucial points, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.
The Baggies have the worst defence in the league by some distance. They’ve conceded 54 goals in 26 matches, an average of 1.98 per game. Three of those came courtesy of Calver-Lewin in September. He bagged a hattrick in the Toffees 5-2 victory at Goodison Park.
Everton’s number nine will be feeling confident in goal. Since coming back into the side, he’s scored three in his last three starts, and won the penalty for Everton’s second goal at Anfield last week.
This season overall he’s hit the target with 62.7% of his attempts on goal. He could have another successful afternoon against Big Sam’s side. They’ve had the most shots against them in the top-flight, averaging 13.4 per game.
If he’s back to full fitness, Calvert-Lewin could be amongst the goals again in his next two matches.
In other Everton news, Ancelotti revealed he didn’t want Doucoure at Goodison Park initially, but he’s glad to have him.