Gylfi: Struggling with Set Pieces
Evertonians have suffered an unhappy few months since Jordan Pickfords unfortunate mistake at Anfield. It has been an equally unhappy time for managers of Fantasy Football teams who have picked Everton players since that fateful fumble at the tin mine. In conjunction with Fantasy Football 24/7, The Street End takes a look at which Everton players could be worth a punt before the end of the season.
First of all, let’s get the obvious players out of the way. Gylfi Sigurdsson and Richarlison are Everton’s two top scorers in fantasy football. Sigurdsson leads Richarlison by 5 points at 119 to 114 although the Brazilian is £0.8 million cheaper than the Iceman from Reykjavik. There are a couple of reasons why it may be worth having a crack at Richarlison over Sigurdsson for the end of the season.
First of all, Richarlison is still Everton’s most dangerous player. With 10 goals in the league this season, it is unlikely that Silva leaves out his top scorer many times in the remaining 11 games. Richarlison has missed less big chances than Sigurdsson according to the premierleague.com, with only 5 big chances missed. To put that into context, Theo Walcott has missed 8 and Aubameyang has missed a whopping 17! Richarlison has gotten 38% of his 55 shots on target so far this season, a decent return for a man who has played out of position for the majority of the season.
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The good news is that Richarlison has returned to the wings in recent weeks which means that he will be spending less time with his back to goal. Marco Silva has been keen to give his other centre forwards a chance to play for their futures in recent weeks which may have a positive effect on Richarlison going forward.
Psychologically, the Brazilian has something to play for until the end of the Season. He made his debut for the Verde-Amarela earlier this season and will be wanting to make the squad for the Copa America, which will be held in Brazil this summer. He will also want to prove that last season’s dramatic loss of form at Watford was a one off. Despite being picked by 20.2% of the fantasy football public, Richarlison could well be worth a punt at £6.6 million.
Gylfi Sigurdsson is Everton’s record signing and top scorer in fantasy football this season. His 9 goals make him Everton’s 2nd top scorer in the Premier League in what has been an unusual season for the Icelandic international. He started the season on fire with 6 goals and 2 assists in his first 13 games. His passing was crisp and he looked a threat in every game. Unfortunately, this did not continue. He fell into the same malaise that the rest of the Everton squad suffered with after the derby defeat. As Sigurdsson has suffered, Everton have suffered. His best game since the golden spell was the 5-1 defeat of Burnley. He scored a goal and got an assist in that game. Despite this, he has looked laboured in his play the rest of the time.
Sigurdsson has also struggled in another surprising area since joining Everton. The Icelandic international arrived at Everton with a reputation as a dead ball specialist. Sigurdsson has not scored from a free kick in almost 2 seasons at Everton. Sigurdsson has only 3 assists to his name this season. Everton will be hoping that he can provide some of the set piece magic that we saw at Swansea.
In his favour, Sigurdsson has created 7 big chances this season according to the premier league with 15 through balls. 24% of his 135 crosses have been accurate which highlights the problems that Everton have had in converting chances. Sigurdsson will start for Everton and as the teams designated penalty taker, is well worth a punt at £7.2 million. Only 5.4% of teams have selected him. Gylfi could be the man to save your fantasy football season.
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Whilst Richarlison, Sigurdsson and Digne are the obvious Evertonians for your fantasy team. The remaining 11 games are an opportunity managers to pick up points from wild cards. These players are playing for their future or have been unlucky and whose form may return to the median. As Everton’s form has nosedived, these could be fantasy football gold if you hit on the right one. Let’s face it, noone else will have signed them….
Much has been written in the Street End about Theo Walcott. The fears that we expressed about his signing have materialised. He looks a shadow of the player that he was at Arsenal. Great signing Sam Allardyce! In spite of these fears, there are 2 reasons why Walcott may score some points before the end of the season.
Firstly, Theo Walcott has had some poor luck in front of goal this season. He has missed 8 big chances this season, despite having a 52% shooting accuracy. Surprisingly, his shooting accuracy for his career is 44% so he is actually putting more shots on target this season. This would suggest that the former England international is having a period of bad luck in front of goal, not a decline in performance. It is true that he has looked shorn of confidence for some time but could be due a renaissance.
In addition to his shot accuracy statistics is the fact that Walcott is still one of the fastest players in the league. This makes him a valuable asset on the counter attack. Everton’s run in features games against Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Spurs. Walcott’s experience will be valuable against those teams. It is also likely that Everton will be on the back foot for much of those matches. Walcott’s ability to stretch defences may mean more game time and opportunities in those games. With only 2.7% of fantasy owners owning him, he could be a good wildcard at £6.0 million.
Sam Allardyce has stopped mentioning his signings in his fortnightly complaints about his Everton sacking on Talksport. Neither, Theo Walcott or Cenk Tosun have set the world alight this season. Both players have 11 games left to salvage their Everton futures. Tosun is well placed to gain some fantasy points.
The former Besiktas man is one of football’s nearly men. He is not quite quick enough, tall enough nor strong enough to be a top Premier League striker. Tosun is an accurate finisher with good movement and instincts. Unfortunately doesn’t have that extra yard of pace that an Aubameyang has to separate himself from opposing defenders. He has had a stop start season and has found himself second choice behind Richarlison at striker. This has changed in recent weeks and the Turkish international has started 3 of the last 4 games.
In those games he has shown aggression and has started to get into threatening positions. His shot on the turn against Watford was very well saved by Ben Foster . He was also close to an equaliser, heading over the bar from a Bernard cross late on. We saw Tosun’s finishing ability last season. Given a run of games, he may better his 5 goal haul since his signing in January 2018. He has a 42% shot accuracy total in his Premier League career. Only 1.5% of fantasy football teams own Tosun. He is a decent shout for a substitute striker who will get minutes before the end of the season.
The other Everton striker that is fighting for his future is Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The tone of this segment may have been different if he had scored either of his two chances at the end of the Watford game. That being said, the 21 year old is Everton’s 3rd top scorer this season with 6 goals in all competitions. He has made 9 starts in the Premier League this season, scoring in 2 of them with his other 2 goals coming off the bench.
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Unlike Tosun, Calvert-Lewin has all of the physical attributes that you need in a top class striker, in particular the height and pace to trouble centre backs. In his cameo in the Watford game, he won a number of headers and on another day could have scored 2 goals. He has suffered from not having a consistent run of starts but may find that as the season draws to an end.
There is value to having Calvert-Lewin as a 3rd striker option. There are only 2 games this season that the youngster has not made an appearance in. Whether he starts or not, the young Yorkshireman is always likely to make an appearance because of his work ethic, tactical awareness and physical attributes. If Everton are chasing the games late on and need to go direct, Calvert-Lewin will be on the pitch. He has scored late goals against Crystal Palace and Bournemouth this season. If Calvert-Lewin puts it together, Everton could solve the striker problem that has existed since Lukaku’s exit. With a dearth of top strikers in fantasy football, Calvert-Lewin could be a cheap option with some production.
A lot has been made of Everton’s struggles at defensive set pieces but Michael Keane is an aerial threat at the other end of the pitch. He always seems to win at least one header every game from a corner or a free kick that is a yard away from a goal. The former Burnley and Manchester United man has a total of only 3 goals in his Premier League career but has been unlucky not to add to that total at Everton. He has won 143 of his aerial battles this season.
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He has played in 6 clean sheet performances this season With matches against 3 of the bottom teams in goals scored, Cardiff, Fulham and Newcastle coming up, Keane has an opportunity to add some more 6 point hauls to his tally. With an ownership of 3.8% and a price of £4.9 million, Keane could be a good addition to your fantasy team’s defence before the end of the season.
Surprisingly, Keane is only 3 points behind one of Everton’s few success stories this season, Lucas Digne. The Frenchman is popular amongst fantasy managers, mainly due to his set piece prowess and crossing ability. He hit the bar from a free kick in his last outing against Watford and whipped in a few dangerous crosses that could have resulted in goals.
His ownership has halved over the last 3 games with only 7.9% of fantasy owners taking a chance on him after his sending off against Huddersfield. The game against Manchester City would have played a part in people’s thinking but Digne is always capable of a goal or an assist. The Cardiff game could be the perfect opportunity to put a rested Digne in your side.
The current state of the Everton side is highlighted by the lack of top class options in Fantasy Football. In the past, Everton have had Romelu Lukaku who was a consistent goal scorer before he went to United to carry Pogba’s bags. Ross Barkley was also a consistent point scorer and Leighton Baines was the top full back option in every Evertonians fantasy side.
Their replacements have been a mixed bag. Lukaku has not been replaced and most Evertonians would have him back if he acquired some humility on the way. Sigurdsson is 29 and has not set the world on fire at Everton, much the same as Barkley’s performance at Chelsea. Digne has shown promise that he can be Baines long term succesor at Everton and a strong finish to the season is on the cards for the Frenchman.
Other than that, choosing an Everton player for a fantasy side is a gamble. Part of that is due to the wasteful spending by Walsh and Koeman. It is up to Marco Silva to strengthen the side this summer and give Evertonians a few more options for their fantasy teams this summer.
Which Everton players do you have in your fantasy football team? Let us know in the comments section below or on Twitter or Facebook.
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