5 Telling Stats from Everton’s Lifeless 0-0 Draw with Arsenal

It was tough to watch. But did the numbers show us anything of interest?

Let’s find out...

Oh Gylfi

More than 7 hours since he last created a chance in open play

Gylfi Sigurdsson – and increasingly Alex Iwobi – are struggling to appease fans at the moment.

Admittedly, Gylfi was playing in a deeper midfield role this week, but one would have hoped he could create more here than in the more advanced role he typically players, where the game often seems to pass him by.

It’s not that Gylfi is playing badly per se – it’s just that he’s not involved enough in Everton’s creative play.

No winger, no option

Sidibe trails with a 73.3% pass accuracy

After Alex Iwobi went off early on, Duncan Ferguson made the strange call to bring on Cenk Tosun in his place, meaning Tom Davies was moved to a right midfield role.

In this unaccustomed role, though, Davies struggled to provide any real width, leaving Sidibe with few options on the ball.

Sidibe didn’t have one of his better days in general too, and only Richarlison had a lower pass accuracy than the Frenchman’s 73.3% of any starting player in a Blue shirt.

Keane Struggles Continue

Completed just 40% of passes after coming on

Big Dunc had a second chance to bring on Bernard and finally move Davies back inside later in the game, but instead he chose an even stranger move: bring on Michael Keane and moving Holgate back into midfield once again.

Michael Keane had a horrible 20 minutes on the field though, completing just 40% of his passes, having several poor touches and not making any defensive contributions.

He looks very, very low on confidence right now.

Sub the Sub

Third time this season Everton have subbed a sub…

And we’re the only team in the league to have done it at all.

Big Dunc caused a lot of controversy by hauling Moise Kean off after 18 minutes last week, but the Scot did so again with Cenk Tosun this time out – although the Turkish striker spent a lot more time on the field.

Tosun wasn’t happy though, and headed straight down the tunnel.

Settle for a Draw

Just two shots on target in the match

As the match entered the final 20 minutes, it was clear that neither caretaker manager was willing to take a risk in order to try and win the match.

Everton didn’t summon a single shot on target during the match, while Arsenal mustered just two. Bring on Kean for Delph rather than a more attacking move also left many Evertonians disappointed, especially considering how poor Arsenal have been of late.