Everton ‘water pistol’ to fail Moyes as Sutton predicts scoreline v Aston Villa
Everton will not take advantage of Aston Villa’s tendency to concede “silly” goals when they face each other on Wednesday, according to Chris Sutton.
Previewing Villa’s trip to Goodison Park on 15 January, Sutton identified goalscoring as the “biggest” problem that new manager David Moyes needs to address, likening the Toffees’ attack to a water pistol.
The pundit believes the Scot, like managers before him, will struggle to get a “tune out” of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and, therefore, predicted a 2-0 win for Unai Emery’s side in the upcoming Premier League clash.
“David Moyes is back in charge of Everton and has a really tough job on his hands. In terms of firepower, he is armed with a water pistol”, Sutton wrote in his BBC Sport column (13 January).
“He has taken over a team which did not score enough goals under Sean Dyche. That was their biggest issue, and it is hard to see how Moyes can solve it with the same players that Dyche had.
“With Jordan Pickford, James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite, Everton have got players who can hold them together at the back, but Moyes’ conundrum is to increase their attacking threat, and that is going to be a struggle, especially in these early days.
“Armando Broja is injured again so maybe Moyes can get a tune out of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but that is something none of the the past few Everton managers have managed to do, and I have even seen him being linked with a move away.
“I have got Aston Villa’s Emi Martinez in my Fantasy team, and I see him as the best goalkeeper in the Premier League, but they always seem to concede silly goals. So it is possible to get at Villa, I just don’t see Everton managing it.
“I don’t like talking about myself much but my last goal as a professional footballer was a clever header in a Villa win over a Moyes’ Everton team at Goodison Park, and I am going for the same outcome here. 0-2.”
Everton and David Moyes to prove Chris Sutton wrong v Aston Villa
While Sutton is not wrong about Everton’s goalscoring woes, it would not be a surprise if Moyes proved him wrong on Wednesday.
Yes, Calvert-Lewin and Beto’s performances as the Toffees’ strikers this season have left much to be desired.
However, there is no denying that Sean Dyche’s pragmatic tactics affected the team’s output in attack.
It will, therefore, be interesting to see how Moyes sets his team up against Aston Villa.
Calvert-Lewin continues to be linked with a move away from Goodison Park after entering the final six months of his contract, but he could still be a key player for the Blues.
There are no guarantees that the new manager bounce will earn Everton all three points on Wednesday, but there is no reason that they cannot take at least a point from Emery and Co.
Dwight McNeil will be a huge miss for the Merseyside-based club, but the likes of Calvert-Lewin, Iliman Ndiaye and Abdoulaye Doucoure could fire them to a shock victory over the Birmingham outfit.
In other Everton news, the Toffees are chasing a January deal for this Premier League defender.
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