After their defeat in the Merseyside Derby, Everton are staring down the barrel of relegation.
They have slipped into the relegation zone, and trail Burnley by two points, with a game in hand.
We take a look at how they’ve got to this position, their final fixtures, and whether they can stay up.
Goodison the key
Everton’s home form this season has been average. They sit 12th in the home form table, with 23 of their 29 points coming at Goodison Park.
They’ve won seven, drawn two and lost seven of their games this season in front of the home crowd, equating to 1.44 points per game.
The Toffees have also been much better both in front of goal and defensively whilst at home, with 21 goals scored and 20 conceded.
However, the atmosphere at Goodison Park has slowly been deteriorating as the season has progressed.
Toffee Blues journalist Jack Kinsella reflects on the way the fans have reacted to their sliding form.
“The atmosphere has been awful. When the fans are behind the players it’s fine, but they have been quick to turn on them after mistakes.
“There’s been booing of the players the moment there are any mistakes. There have just been far too many mistakes from the players.”
He doesn’t fully blame Lampard, who he thinks has instilled some positivity into the side.
“The young players always look up for it when they play. It just seems to be taking too long to get through to the senior players, and the fans have lost their patience.”
Everton’s home form will be vital if they are to stay up, and they face Chelsea, Brentford, Crystal Palace and Arsenal in the run in to the end of the season.
“I think it will be tough to get the points in those games,” Kinsella says.
Away day Blues
Everton’s away form is dire. When compared to their home form, and statistics, it looks like two different teams.
They have accumulated just six points away from home, with a goal difference of -22. This is relegation form, as shown in the graph below.
Four of their six points away from home came in August, where Everton beat Brighton and drew to Leeds. At that time, they sat fourth in the league, and Benitez was nominated for manager of the month.
Just two more draws have come since then, at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge.
Everton’s six points, when compared to the worst performing away sides across the last eight seasons, looks like they are destined for the drop.
Only Brighton, who scored 11 points in the 2017/18, stayed up from these teams.
The only realistic chance for Everton to pick up points away from home comes against Watford in May.
Even if they won that game, they would still be on fewer points than Brighton, equalling Norwich’s total of nine points in 2013/14.
Their other away games see them travel to Leicester and Arsenal.
Kinsella says he thinks they are unlikely to get any points from those games.
“I just don’t see where we will get points. We always seem to struggle against Leicester, and we didn’t get anything from the Derby.”
Considering where their poor away form has come from, he doesn’t know why it has been so bad.
“Our home fans tend to be quite hostile, especially if the game is going against us.
“Away they really get behind the team, but the team really haven’t performed.
“Our defence has been the real problem. Once the first goal goes in, the team look like they lose their heads, and it looks like we are bound to lose.”
If they are to get any points from those games, they must find a way to score goals, as only 13 of their 34 goals this season have come in away games.
Combine this with conceding 35 goals in their 16 away games, they are left with what looks like an impossible task to pick up any points when not at Goodison.
Trouble at the front and the back
Despite conceding 55 goals this season, 20 at home added to the 35 conceded away, this is not out of the ordinary for Everton.
In four of the last eight seasons they have conceded more than 50 goals.
However, this season this has not been matched by free scoring, where it has been in the past.
In six of those last eight seasons, the Toffees have ended up with a goal difference of -2 or better.
This season, a lack of goals has highlighted their poor defence, with them sitting currently on -21 goal difference.
Kinsella suggests that it’s a lack of an attacking influence in the midfield that has left them short.
“Last season we had James Rodriguez. This year, we have Allan and Doucoure, who don’t offer much going forward,” he says.
This, combined with out of form strikers has left them unable to score as freely as in the past.
Dominic Calvert Lewin is out of form, and Kinsella says that the attack resting on Richarlison has left them short of a functioning attack.
“It only seems to be Richarlison who plays well each week.
“It’s him and Anthony Gordon who tend to perform week in week out and look like they care.
“Although all it would take is a good performance form a player like Demarae Gray and we’ll sneak a point, we rely on individual performances.”
What went wrong?
It’s clear that there is fundamentally wrong at Everton, but where to place the blame is a matter of debate.
“I don’t know what went wrong,” Kinsella says.
“If you ask the fans, some will blame the owners, some the manager and some the players.
“If you ask me I think it’s a combination of the three.
“I think it’s the constant changes, both managerially and structurally.
“Our squad is made up of scraps from a number of managers, which means that we have good players that don’t play well together.”
Benitez’s record while at the club, although not good, is marginally better than Frank Lampard’s, after 12 games.
Benitez won five, drew four and lost 10 of his 19 games in charge.
He picked up an average of one point per game.
Conversely, Lampard has won just three of his nine games in charge, drawing once, with an average of 0.83 points per game.
This, however, Kinsella doesn’t blame on Lampard.
“Benitez was always going to fail, especially with his history with Liverpool,” he says.
“Benitez started the decline, and Lampard has been left with the rubble left over.”
In all, Kinsella doesn’t quite believe how they have arrived in the situation that they are in.
“A squad with the likes of Allan and Richarlison shouldn’t be looking at relegation.
“Our squad is too good to be down there, and I think that will be what keeps us up, the individual performances.
“But they look like they don’t care. As soon as we concede it looks like their heads go, and I don’t know why.”
Do they have enough to stay up?
“No.” Kinsella says.
“As an Everton fan I expect the worst. I am preparing myself for it.
“But I think if we are to stay up, we’ll pick up points against the bigger teams when the players are up for it, and the players get behind them.
“It’s the games which we should be winning where we seem to struggle.”
Considering the potential challenge ahead, and the impact a relegation would have on the side, he is not optimistic.
“I am not sure if we would come straight back up if we were relegated, it’s assumed to be a given but I think it would be tough.
“If we do go down, it would be a disaster.”
(Feature Image Credit to Jack Kinsella)
