Match week six of the Premier League season is upon us and Everton will travel to Brentford in search of that elusive first win of the season. Will Dyche make changes? Or will he leave us with a bad taste once again?
Everton’s last outing was home where they hosted Arsenal and left with a meek performance to say the least. Dyche’s game plan was not acceptable. He played for the draw and for the first 68′ minutes, it worked. Arsenal were always going to score as we are not a team that prevents elite teams from scoring. We were on the back foot for the entire game and looked toothless, but in the last ten minutes we played our best, which still was not great.
Brentford also came off of a loss and Newcastle handled them as expected. Brentford went on to lose 1-0 at St. James’ park and they never looked comfortable nor looked like they were going to leave with any result other than a loss. A penalty from Callum Wilson would be the difference and Brentford never looked to trouble Newcastle all that much. Rico Henry left injured in the first half and will miss a lengthy amount of time.
Everton’s key player for this upcoming match is none other than Abdoulaye Doucouré. Brentford plays in a manner that forces teams to pass centrally, and Doucouré plays better when his team plays directly. With his key passes per 90 being just two and his pass percentage on the season being 83%, a more direct style of play and hopefully an increase of possession would see a bump in his key passes. An increase in passes would allow for the forwards to create great hold up play and allow for Doucouré to move in and out of the final third. He can be the engine on Saturday. 
Brentford’s Key player for this upcoming match is Bryan Mbeumo. After five matches played he has scored four goals, which is efficient to say the least. Brentford’s attack goes through Mbeumo, he plays the counter very well and expects the long ball. Mbeumo is quite pacey, which is worrying due to who we have utilized at Fullback this season, Myko and Young will be targeted in this match. Defensively we cannot turn off for a second but we have the tendency to shut down for periods of the match.
According to totalfootballanalysis.com, “Brentford’s defensive strategy involves high-pressure tactics. One forward from the front two starts running in a curved shape, blocking passes to the flanks. They aim to push the ball to one side and set up a pressing trap to regain possession.” If we can play out of the high press with quick passes and balls into our forwards who can spray the ball wide or play directly, I believe we can get a positive result away. We must play upbeat and be clinical with the few chances we create, we cannot sit back and absorb pressure for 90 minutes, it just does not work against a dynamic attack.
With one point out of five…this is looking like a must win, but thankfully there are a few teams who are doing just as bad as we. If we leave with a point or even three tomorrow, a positive result and good form could propel us into the next run of fixtures, which are all very winnable (Luton and Bournemouth).
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