Our Everton Team Preview takes an in-depth look at their prospects ahead of the new Draft Premier League season. These hints and tips will provide essential information to enable you to get ahead in your Fantasy EPL competition during the pre-season!
Here we outline the prospects of each team for the upcoming season, highlight major signings, provide a predicted starting eleven, and also a projection of the top-scoring players for each team, as well as some hidden gem players for the new season. Check back for regular updates to these Team Preview articles!
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Everton Team Preview
Next up in our Premier League Team Preview’s is Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton side. The Toffees will be looking to bounce back after a disappointing season in 19/20. This will be Ancelotti’s first full season in charge.
Last Season
Everton flattered to deceive last season, ending up in 12th position despite some promising signs at times. An established Premier League club, with a huge financial backing and a world-class manager (for half of the season). That’s a recipe for success, and many Draft Premier League managers bought into it. However, Marco Silva left the club in December 2019, after an indifferent start to the season. Everton spent a lot of money last summer bringing in Moise Kean, Alex Iwobi, and Jean-Philippe Gbamin, as well as signing Andre Gomes on a permanent deal and Dijbril Sidibe on loan. But it just wasn’t happening for them. Owner Farhad Moshiri further exampled his financial backing by replacing Silva with one of the best managers in the game; Carlo Ancelotti. The Italian produced some good results, but in the end, the season petered out. Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin both scored 13 Premier League goals, and Lucas Digne was as impressive as always. However, lots of work to do ahead of next season!
Top Scoring 19/20 Players
- Lucas Digne: 422 points
- Richarlison: 380 points
- Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 309.5 points
Transfer Activity
Everton has reportedly made an £18m bid for Real Madrid left-back Sergio Reguilon, which is probably the only position they do not need to strengthen! Lucas Digne is their best player and despite Leighton Baines retiring, providing Digne with this kind of competition shouldn’t be a priority. Elsewhere, The Toffees are reportedly in the market for a new center-back. Again, this position shouldn’t be a priority. Yerry Mina, Michael Keane, and Mason Holgate are good enough for now.
The area that Everton really need to strengthen is in midfield. Sigurdsson has fallen off the radar, Iwobi and Bernard are hugely inconsistent, and Tom Davies isn’t good enough for the starting eleven. Central midfielders Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure look set to arrive at the club, which is a huge step forward in terms of quality. One or two options in the wide areas are also needed, unless Richarlison moves back out to play as a left winger, with Sigurdsson playing behind Calvert-Lewin. Although a sensational move for James Rodriguez of Real Madrid looks like it could be materializing… that would be a pretty big coup for the club, but again, Everton need wide players.
Premier League Prospects
Everton’s prospects depend on the transfer business that is done over the summer. Ancelotti needs new players brought in and deadwood removed from this squad. The likes of Sigurdsson, Walcott, Tosun, Bernard, and Bolasie (yes, he does still play for them) should be moved on to provide space for new and exciting players to be brought in. If this happens then Everton has a chance of returning to the top half of the table. Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin, and Digne will be the outstanding performers once again, with players such as Keane, Mina, and Iwobi hoping to provide more consistent contributions. There is lots of work for Ancelotti to do here, and success is not going to come soon, or cheaply.
For details of the current Everton Set-Piece Takers, click here!
Predicted League Position: 12th
Predicted Everton Starting Eleven
- Keane and Mina will be battling it out alongside Holgate in central defence, and either the returning Kenny or a new right-back will provide competition for Coleman at right-back
- Gbamin will be hoping for an injury-free season, with Davies providing competition in central midfield
Projected Top Scoring Players
The first Everton player up is Lucas Digne, who is really the only consistently great Fantrax scoring player that features for The Toffees! The Frenchman was the 16th highest scoring player last season, after providing eight attacking returns (all assists) and nine clean sheets. Digne ranked 5th overall for accurate crosses, 8th for key passes, 11th for tackles won, and 21st for aerials won. These are the statistics that make him one of the best Fantrax players, and a Top 20 draft pick for the new season. The sophisticated Fantrax Scoring System rewards players who make positive contributions to the game, and Digne makes an incredible amount! We’ve currently got him down at 15th overall in the first draft of our Draft Rankings. Yes, he is that good.
Richarlison was the 26th highest scoring player on Fantrax last season, and he attracted interest from Barcelona during the January Transfer Window. The Brazilian forward scored 13 goals and provided five assists last season, during his most productive in an Everton shirt. Richarlison is undoubtedly a talented footballer, and has won several caps for Brazil in the last couple of years. However, he does struggle for consistency and was fairly poor during the Premier League restart. The Everton man does fill out his stats sheet fairly well when he’s on form, with shots on target and successful dribbles being his best points-scoring outlets other than attacking returns. We’re hoping Richarlison has a really good season under Ancelotti’s tutelage.
And speaking of Ancelotti’s tutelage, Dominic Calvert-Lewin is another Everton player who could really benefit. The 23-year-old forward also had his best season so far for The Toffees, as he really established himself in the starting eleven. As mentioned previously Calvert-Lewin scored 13 goals last season, and also picked up great Fantrax returns by virtue of ranking 6th overall for aerials won. The Everton man also ranked 11th overall for shots on target. These examples show that Calvert-Lewin can score pretty well for the peripheral points that the Fantrax Scoring System offers. We’re backing him to be a Top 40 player next season, despite a disappointing performance after the Premier League restart.
Ones To Watch
Everton really don’t currently have that many other players that are worth keeping an eye on. Centre-back Michael Keane is usually good for Fantrax points, and Yerry Mina will be a good asset if he can re-establish himself in the starting eleven alongside Keane. As we’ve said above, Iwobi was very inconsistent last season, so we would personally steer clear of him for now. And established midfielder and former Fantrax favorite Sigurdsson is not someone we’re going to recommend drafting. The Icelandic playmaker doesn’t look to fit in with Ancelotti’s style, and he’s firmly on our “do not draft” list. Youngster Anthony Gordon may prove to be a decent option at times this season, but this depends on how successful the transfer activity is.
More Team Previews: Arsenal | Aston Villa | Brighton | Burnley | Chelsea | Crystal Palace | Everton | Fulham | Leeds | Leicester | Liverpool | Manchester City | Manchester United | Newcastle | Sheffield United | Southampton | Tottenham | West Brom | West Ham | Wolves
Our 20/21 Fantasy EPL Draft Kit is here!! Check out our dedicated page for essential pre-season content, including Draft Rankings, Team Previews, and Draft Strategy articles!
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