After a solid if unspectacular first season under Marco Silva, can Everton push on to break into the top six in the upcoming campaign? Get our Everton betting tips and the latest Everton betting specials here.
Everton may see this upcoming season as the one in which they can finally break into the top six and perhaps even push for a Champions League spot. With Manchester United still undergoing a transitional period, Chelsea having lost Eden Hazard and being unable to replace him and Arsenal still seemingly struggling for consistency under Unai Emery, will the Toffees take advantage in this campaign to finish above one or more of those sides?
As one of the most historic and famous clubs in the country, the lack of trophies at Goodison Park in recent years will be a cause for concern and so Marco Silva may look for success in the domestic cup competitions alongside a push for a top six or perhaps even a top four finish this term. With the quality they have and given the perilous position their rivals for those positions find themselves in, a consistent season from the Blues may be enough to really shake things up this term.
Everton Betting Specials
To win the league – 200/1
To win the FA Cup – 16/1
To win the EFL Cup – 16/1
To finish in the top four – 15/1
To finish in the top six – 4/1
To finish in the top 10 – 4/11
To be relegated – 66/1
Gylffi Sigurdsson to win PFA Player of the Year – 80/1
After fighting tooth and nail to bring Marco Silva to the club from Watford, the Toffees finally got their man last summer. Signings like Richarlison, Yerry Mina and Lucas Digne proved to be successful. In the end, although they struggled for consistency in the early stages of the campaign, the Blues enjoyed a terrific finish to the campaign, losing just one of their last eight and picking up home wins over Arsenal and Manchester United.
The likes of Digne and Richarlison certainly added some quality to the Everton squad though and at times we saw the potential of this squad for the forthcoming season. The issues came over the new year period as they lost four out of five home games, including a thumping 2-6 defeat at the hands of Tottenham. Avoiding a shaky spell like that will be key to securing a top six spot at least this season.
The Manager
Marco Silva was long-courted by Everton before finally being announced as manager last summer. The Portuguese boss had been at Watford for only a matter of months when he was targeted by the Goodison Park hierarchy as a potential successor for the departing Ronald Koeman. The Hornets held firm and didn’t allow him to leave, but a poor spell of form followed and he was eventually sacked by the Hertfordshire club after Everton moved to bring in Sam Allardyce on a short-term basis.
Allardyce never endeared himself to the Toffees fans and as such it came as little surprise to anyone when Silva was announced as his successor ahead of the 2018/2019 campaign. Some impressive signings helped to cultivate an attractive style of play, but at times he seemed unwilling to rotate and an over-reliance on zonal marking did hurt the Toffees defensively at times, but there are certainly signs that the future could be bright under his guidance.
The New Arrivals
With more financial backing coming into Goodison Park over the last few seasons, Everton have been able to invest more than they were able to do under the likes of David Moyes and Roberto Martinez in the past. As a result, talented players like Jordan Pickford and Gylffi Sigurdsson have arrived for huge transfer fees and the Toffees look set for more business this summer with three new signings already being confirmed.
Can Dominic Calvert-Lewin kick on this season? (PA Images)
Goalkeeper Jonas Lossl has arrived on a free transfer from Huddersfield to provide some back-up to Pickford, while Andre Gomes, a star while on loan at the Merseyside club last season, has joined the club on a permanent basis from Barcelona in a fee believed to be worth approximately £22m. Manchester City have also allowed the versatile Fabian Delph to make the switch to Everton for an undisclosed fee. Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha has also been linked in the last few days with rumours of a cash-plus-player deal doing the rounds.
The Key Man
Left-back is not usually the position of a key man in any Premier League team, but Lucas Digne won the hearts of the Goodison Park faithful with his all-action displays from the position last season. After arriving from Barcelona, the Frenchman was not only solid defensively, he also provided an excellent attacking outlet with runs from deep and dangerous crossing and he ended up winning Player of the Season in his first year with the club.
Having played for Roma and PSG before Barcelona, Digne has experience at a higher level and this may prove to be key as the Toffees look to progress over the upcoming campaigns. While the likes of Idrissa Gana Gueye, Gylffi Sigurdsson and Jordan Pickford play vital roles for Marco Silva’s side, Digne brings an air of classiness to proceedings and he will hope to build on a successful first term with the Toffees this year.
How can Everton break the ‘Big Six’ monopoly?
Breaking into the top six may have seemed an impossibility for many teams over the last few years with these positions seemingly being sewn up by the same teams every season. However, it’s worth noting that it used to be a ‘Big Four’ that was seemingly impenetrable and with the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United all going through transitional periods this could be the time to target a top six finish.
It seems clear where Everton have to improve. They haven’t had a regular goalscoring centre-forward since Romelu Lukaku left for Manchester United and there seems to be an issue with integrating youth into the team with the likes of Ademola Lookman and Tom Davies struggling to kick-on after making their first few appearances. Consistency and improving form away from home will be key to progress this term.
Can Silva provide talented youth first-team opportunity?
One blot on Silva’s first season was the lack of opportunities afforded to some of Everton’s talented youngsters. While Dominic Calvert-Lewin featured plenty of times, that may have been more down to a lack of alternatives to lead the line and players like Tom Davies, Ademola Lookman and Kieran Dowell appeared to be stagnating or even regressing due to a lack of opportunities last term.
Lookman has now moved permanently to German club RB Leipzig, where he has previously spent time out on loan while Jonjoe Kenny, Kieran Dowell and Josh Bowler have all signed season-long loan deals away from the club. The Toffees have always had a penchant for producing home-grown talent, can Silva ensure that talent starts to get a chance to compete at Goodison Park or does he not value the long-term approach, given his short-term spells at previous clubs in England?
A lot of pundits are predicting that the top six is broken up this season with the likes of Everton, Wolves and Leicester hot on the heels of those teams that are not quite at their best at the moment. The Toffees, for our money, are in the best position of those three teams to push on for the top six, but we don’t think they have enough quality in a couple of areas of the pitch to finish above the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United.
That’s not to say it won’t be a successful season for the Merseysiders. We do think they will progress and finish one place higher than last year’s eighth position. We can also see them progressing in the domestic cup competitions as the Blues look to end a trophy drought that stretches back to 1995.
Unfortunately for Everton fans, we don’t see this as being the season in which their team manage to break into the top six. Under Marco Silva they do seem to be heading in the right direction, but they are still a few stars away from being able to challenge the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea and Silva’s over-reliance on the same core group of players, due to a lack of depth, is likely to hold them back over the course of the campaign.
