Chris Sutton hails Everton momentum at ‘fortress’ Goodison Park on BBC radio, torn on survival hopes as danger lurks ahead
Chris Sutton believes Everton are a “really interesting” case in the relegation battle thanks to their home form and the fixtures they have left.
The 1-0 win over Brentford on Saturday (11 March) lifted the Toffees three places out of the drop zone to 15th, with Sean Dyche’s third single-goal victory at Goodison Park from four attempts since taking over from Frank Lampard.
Sutton therefore is confident the club have “turned a corner” but is still concerned about their survival chances given the tough games remaining on Merseyside, and the fact that all five teams below have a game in hand.
Speaking on BBC 5 Live’s Monday Night Club (13 March, 14m 10s) Sutton said: “Everton are really interesting in this because I think we would all feel that they have gathered great momentum, but actually they’ve probably got the toughest fixtures to come, and I think they’ve got a game less as well.
“They [have] a bit of a fortress at home, Goodison, but they’ve got some tough home fixtures – Spurs, Fulham, Newcastle, Manchester City.
“Wolves [away] and Bournemouth are the ones where you’re thinking [it’s] a really good opportunity, but they are actually going alright.”
He went on (33m): “With Everton I think we all think they’ve turned a corner… Even the away game at Nottingham Forest I thought Sean Dyche would have been bitterly disappointed not to win that game. I thought they had opportunities.
“They’ve got a game less and a really tough run of fixtures, they have, but they’ve got something going. They’re building momentum and they’re in a far better place than they were. But, what we do know is, they’ve got to keep the performance level like that one at the weekend against Brentford for the rest of the season.”
In the balance
Looking at the positions in the league table after the weekend might be cause of some relief with a gap to the danger zone for once, but every team between 16th and 20th is still within three points.
Clearly, it is unlikely that all of them would turn that game in hand into three points given their own struggles, but it shows Dyche and his men are far from out of trouble.
All the manager can do is keep grinding out results, and if he can get in the habit of avoiding defeat away from home and following it up with three points at Goodison that would be a pretty solid formula.
The 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest on 5 March perhaps should have been three, even if it was on the road, and every defeat does set in some panic, but it is indisputable that Dyche has provided a lift on what was happening under Frank Lampard.
Of his games in charge, the home wins against Arsenal, who are gunning for the title, and Brentford, who were on the longest unbeaten run in the division, shows there is a capability to win against anyone at Goodison Park on the right day, just as there was a year ago.
It is unlikely to happen in every game, as the frustrating defeat to Aston Villa shows (25 February), but any game in which Everton manage to overcome their limitations in attack and actually score a goal gives them a good chance to take points, as they are yet to lose under Dyche when finding the net.