5 Stats from Everton’s Frustrating Loss to West Ham

Mason Holgate’s deflected volley proved insufficient for Frank Lampard’s side, as individual errors came back to haunt them yet again.

Red Mist

Jonjoe Kenny, Allan, and Michael Keane have all seen red in consecutive matches. All three received their marching orders while Everton were either level or down a goal, so perhaps keeping 11 men on the pitch should become part of Lampard’s strategy in tight games going forward.

Homesick

2020/21 marked Everton’s second-most successful away campaign in the club’s 144-year history, but the pendulum has now swung the opposite direction as the club charges towards its worst-ever season away from home in 2021/22. Everton’s sole win away from Goodison Park in the Premier League this season was at The Amex during Matchweek 3. Feels like years ago.

Self-Inflicted

Many of the Toffees’ wounds this season have been self-inflicted; a trend which cannot continue in order to achieve Premier League survival come May. Recently, Everton have been beating themselves more often than they’ve been getting beaten by others.

Scarcity of Service

Much has been made of Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s inability to get on the scoresheet since his return from a fractured toe back in January, and his assist for Alex Iwobi’s late-winner against Newcastle remains his only goal contribution since he sustained the aforementioned injury. However, missed penalty against Brighton aside, it’s safe to say that his lack of goals is not entirely his fault. As I wrote in my article last week about DCL’s decline, getting him scoring again must be a main priority for Lampard, but that will not happen if he continues to receive no service whatsoever.

First-Half Failure

Everton have only taken the lead in the first half of a Premier League match 6 times this season, the last time being the 3-0 win against Leeds. Playing from behind has been a consistent theme for the Toffees this season and is one of the main reasons the team has picked up so few points this season. Despite spirited performances in many of the games during which they’ve fallen behind, the players have dug themselves into holes that are just too large to crawl out of more times than I can count this season. Scoring first will be imperative in the crucial games that are now coming thick and fast.