Everton Fantasy Football Tips 2021/22 – Team Preview
Premier League Fantasy Football Tips 2021/22 for Everton by @CoysFPL.
In this team preview series, Dan previews all 20 Premier League teams ahead of the 2021/22 season including season expectations, expected lineups, best player picks, under the radar gems, and players to avoid.
Find all our other Premier League 2021/22 Team Previews here which will be continually updated as the season draws closer!
Everton 2020/21 Season Overview
Everton’s early hopes of a top four finish last season were soon tarnished. They sat top of the league after six games, but only went on to win one of the following six.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side finished in tenth position, a good summary of their last decade in the Premier League.
It was actually the games they should have won which cost them European football. They only won six games at home compared to 11 away.
Their home form included losses to relegated pair Sheffield United and Fulham. This also included frustrating defeats to Burnley and Newcastle. As well as that, only five teams conceded more goals at home, and seven scored fewer.
Putting those results aside, they ended the season quite decently. With a bit more luck, they could have secured Champions League football. After all, they only finished eight points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.
I can’t see their poor home form continuing with the return of fans, the new manager, and the fact it will be a known issue so should be addressed.
The Toffees also proved to be tough for better opposition, beating all of the sides that finished above them bar Manchester United and Manchester City.
Everton 2021/22 Season Expectations
It’s definitely fair to say Everton showed good potential under Ancelotti. If I was a Toffees supporter, I would have been infuriated by their poor record against the sides they should’ve beaten.
Everton had one of the better defences last season, keeping 12 clean sheets (a record beaten by only four teams) and conceding 48.
Before the final day, only four teams had conceded fewer goals. However, after a 5-0 thrashing by Manchester City, they ended up ranking in the same position as they did in the proper table for goals conceded.
The appointment of Rafael Benítez is extremely similar to that of Ancelotti. Both have similar accolades, a reputation in the Premier League and their own distinguishable tactical styles.
When you take into account Everton’s form against tough opposition last season, I think there is a solid platform for Benítez to build from.
With some fresh faces in the transfer market and a full pre-season for Benítez to implement his tactics, we could be talking about the prospect of Everton in Europe again.
That being said, we’ve said that several times over the last decade and it’s never amounted to anything serious. I think they’ll fall short of their ambitions again, but finish only a few points off the top six.
Everton Expected Lineup
It remains unclear which system Benítez will opt for. What remains clear, however, is Jordan Pickford‘s spot between the sticks.
Rumoured incoming Denzel Dumfries would suggest a wing-back system, and he’d slot straight into the side with Lucas Digne on the other flank.
The three centre halves will certainly include Michael Keane and Ben Godfrey. Yerry Mina and Mason Holgate will be fighting for the other spot.
Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure will partner the centre of the park. James Rodriguez, Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin will make up the front three.
James and Richarlison won’t play with much width. The former will move into the channels as much as possible, with Richarlison playing close to Calvert-Lewin.
Everton Best Players
Lucas Digne
He could benefit massively from a Fantasy perspective under Rafael Benítez. The wing-back system that Newcastle played under Rafa saw Matt Ritchie benefit from it highly. The Scotsman had an attacking output of two goals and eight assists in 2017/18.
Last season, only Trent Alexander Arnold, Luke Shaw and Andy Robertson made more key passes among defenders last season than Digne.
The French international also had the best assist rate per 90 minutes in the Everton squad, with 0.30.
Digne will get a share of set-pieces and also offers good assist threat from open play.
He should get set-pieces more frequently given the uncertain future of Gylfi Sigurdsson, which would certainly boost his assist threat given that only a fifth of his key passes came from set-pieces. I only expect his numbers to increase.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Enjoyed his most successful season last time out, finishing with 16 goals and six Fantasy assists. Only five players scored more, but 13 players that scored nine or more scored at a better rate.
Calvert-Lewin slighted exceeded his xG record (by only 0.02 per 90), underlining the fact his goal record last season is sustainable. That xG record ranked tenth among all players in the league.
Interestingly, only Joe Willock, Sergio Agüero and Alexandre Lacazette recorded a higher percentage of their shots on target. It’s fair to say Calvert-Lewin is very clinical.
Of the 2.5 shots in he had per game, 88% were in the 18 yard box, which is a very high proportion. No one in the Everton squad had more shots than him per game, and no one beat his xG+A per 90.
Everton Under the Radar Players
James Rodriguez
The Colombian hit the ground running last season. He scored three of his six goals and made three of his five assists across the whole Premier League season in the first five games.
Beyond this, he only scored three in his final 18 games, which is somewhat worrying.
That being said, he did have the best goal involvement rate in the Everton squad (not including Fantasy assists), with 0.51 goals or assists every 90 minutes.
As well as that, he is likely to share set-pieces with Digne. Rodriguez also made the most key passes per game in the Everton squad with 1.7.
He also had the third most shots with 1.6 (albeit half of those were outside the 18 yard box).
I think if he’s going to pick up form at any point in the season, it will be towards the beginning.
Richarlison
Had his worst goal tally in three seasons after a frustrating campaign, scoring seven and notching six assists.
Richarlison had the second most shots in Everton ranks, only 0.1 less per game than Calvert-Lewin. Yet Calvert-Lewin’s came in much better positions which is shown by the fact he had 0.12 more xG per 90 than his teammate.
The Brazilian’s shot tally was the same as the season before, yet he managed 13 goals then. He actually had a higher xG tally last season with 0.36 per 90 compared to 0.27 the season before.
We could say that xG is irrelevant in Richarlison’s case, given that he exceeded it by 0.11 per 90 in the 19/20 season but fell 0.14 short of his xG tally last season.
Despite being the most likely penalty taker, we never know what we’re going to get. However, we do know that he is at the Olympics, so he’s at risk of missing the first couple of games.
It’s also worth noting that Richarlison scored a hattrick in the opening 30 minutes versus Germany in Brazil’s opening match.
Fantasy Premier League 2021/22 Tips – Team Previews and Best Players
Everton Players to Avoid:
Yerry Mina’s spot in the side is the most uncertain, so I think it’s wise to avoid him for now despite his excellent set-piece threat. This could benefit greatly from Rafa’s tactical approach.
Find all our other Premier League 2021/22 Team Previews here which will be continually updated as the season draws closer!
Do you play or want to learn how to play Fantasy Premier League?
Our How to Play FPL Guide is a great place to get started whilst our Ultimate FPL 2021/22 Guide has everything you could ever need be a successful FPL manager.
We have all the other Premier League fantasy football games covered too…
Be it FanTeam, Dream Team, Sky Fantasy or Telegraph Fantasy we have all the very best fantasy football tips, advice, tools and everything else you could wish for to become a better fantasy football manager and dominate your mini-leagues.
Become a Fantasy Football Hub member
<a
