Coming off of an embarrassing 6-0 loss to Chelsea, Everton are hoping to correct the ship and put some distance between them and the relegation zone. They welcome Nottingham Forest this Sunday to Goodison Park for what could be a monumental match this season.
Everton Vs. Chelsea
Do we really need to go over this? A massive defeat away from home is one thing, but to this Chelsea side? It hurts differently. I believed we could get a result or at least show some sort of competitiveness. This Chelsea side is inconsistent to say the least, yes the have talent but they look mid table at best.
From minute one to minute 90, we never once looked like we were in the game. Every player made sunday league mistakes and played to that level as well. The midfield played much to high which pushes the backline higher than they should’ve been, but maybe that was Dyche’s plan coming into this match.
Dyche didn’t make changes accordingly, he only made changes when he had his hand forced. I don’t know what he could have done, by half time the match was set and we just prepared for the worst. Dyche going into Forest has to do better, have a better game plan and instill in the players that they need to have that fight in them or they will be playing championship ball next season.
Forest Vs. Wolves
This match was one of the more entertaining to watch this past weekend. This game would end 2-2 but would be full of exciting moments, a dominant Forest at home would let a second half lead slip and split the spoils.
Cunha opened the scoring in the 40′ with a masterful solo goal against the run of play but the lead would not last long. Late into first half stoppage time, Morgan Gibbs-White would score against his former team off of a corner. They would go into the half-time 1-1.
Forest would dominate in the second half having 51% possession and out shooting Wolves 9 to 5. In the 57′ Danilo would put Forest ahead but as with the first half, the lead would not last long. Not even five minutes later, Cunha would find the equalizer from a keeper error. The Forest Goalkeeper mishandled an easy header which allowed Cunha to tap in the ball from less than six yards out.
The game would end 2-2 and luckily for us the points were split and Forest still sit behind us in the table.
Everton key player
Idrissa Gana-Gueye is more important than we may have previously thought. Our midfield looked absolutely lost in the Chelsea match, either from being stretched out of position to far or just being out played. Gana is a bit more disciplined in his shape than his mid field counterparts, though he lacks flair he makes up for it in possession and experience.
He ranks in the 98th percentile for tackles amongst midfielders with an average of 3.63 per 90. Each tackle is a possibly prevented attack or a prevented key pass into our third. Gana also can turn on the counter attack quickly, Gana plays out of pressure very nicely and in this match Sunday Forest more than likely will play an aggressive attack, playing more direct than our last meeting with them.
Hopefully we can use that to our advantage and soak up the pressure and use our defensive anchors to dictate how they play and how we move once we have the ball. All of this of course is depending on his availability for the match,
Forest key player
Morgan Gibbs-White is the cog in the Forest machine. Gibbs-White has a total of 12 goal contributions thus far this season. He looks to create from the wings but during the Wolves match, he stayed more central than he has in other matches this season. That leaves me wondering if he will occupy a more disciplined central role against us or will he attack the wings. (He has played more central since Nuno took charge)
He is in the 96th percentile for accurate crosses and in the 92nd for key passes. He also is in the upper echelon for successful dribbles, Forest move the ball through him at all times.
We did decently well to contain him in the last meeting but depending on our defensive line injury status it could be a different story Sunday.
Final thoughts
It can’t be much worse than the Chelsea match but I do have higher hopes at getting result this weekend. This match can define the season, especially if Luton earned a result against Brentford. We are in for another “exciting” end to the season once again. UTFT
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