Following the publication of this article we have been informed that the game has been called off and will be played later in the season.
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By Tony Attwood
This game against Everton is supposedly taking place on Sunday, and of course tickets have been sold for the match. So for the moment, we have to assume it is taking place, although other sporting events have been called off, and there are various voices raised suggesting different courses of action. No one is consulting the paying customers as far as I know – but then that’s how it always goes.
So we’ll continue with the assumption that the game is happening, and we’ll take our normal pre-match look at the opposition…Everton.
Everton, in the last transfer window, spent money on five players: Amadou Onana from Lille, Dwight McNeil from Burnley, Neal Maupay from Brighton, James Garner from Manchester United, Idrissa Gueye from PSG. The total cost was £79.8m according to the Guardian.
Against this they sold Richarlison to Tottenham for £52m, so there was a net outlay of somewhere around £25m. In terms of net spend, this is a long way behind the big players in the market. Chelsea spent around £220m, Manchester United £210m, West Ham £155m. Arsenal were in fact seventh in the Premier League spending table with just under £100m – although the figures do vary from one report to another.
Only Bournemouth, Liverpool, Leeds United, Manchester City, Leicester City and Brighton & Hove had lower net spends this past summer, the last three clubs in that list actually making a profit on their summer transfers. (Which incidentally is quite remarkable when one considers where Brighton are in the league at the moment).
So Everton, really are in a lower league when it comes to spending on players, which is interesting when one considers where they ended up in the actual league table…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | 38 | 29 | 6 | 3 | 99 | 26 | 73 | 93 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 38 | 28 | 8 | 2 | 94 | 26 | 68 | 92 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 38 | 21 | 11 | 6 | 76 | 33 | 43 | 74 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 22 | 5 | 11 | 69 | 40 | 29 | 71 |
| 5 | Arsenal | 38 | 22 | 3 | 13 | 61 | 48 | 13 | 69 |
| 6 | Manchester United | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 57 | 57 | 0 | 58 |
| 16 | Everton | 38 | 11 | 6 | 21 | 43 | 66 | -23 | 39 |
| 17 | Leeds United | 38 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 42 | 79 | -37 | 38 |
| 18 | Burnley | 38 | 7 | 14 | 17 | 34 | 53 | -19 | 35 |
| 19 | Watford | 38 | 6 | 5 | 27 | 34 | 77 | -43 | 23 |
| 20 | Norwich City | 38 | 5 | 7 | 26 | 23 | 84 | -61 | 22 |
After the game on 6 April in which they lost to Burnley, Everton were 17th just one point above Burnley who occupied the first of the three relegation places.
Everton then won four of their last nine games, drew one and lost the other four including the last game of the season 5-1 to Arsenal.
Everton ultimately escaped relegation by four points (having a worse goal difference than Burnley), and were 20 points away from a place in either of the main European competitions.
Obviously, they have the issue of their new stadium to consider, and this may be curtailing spending, and certainly, the fact that Leeds had a net spend of under £2m does suggest that the club may not be too worried about sinking to the Championship.
However, this season’s results haven’t really been doing that philosophy any favours as the table shows
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 15 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 6 | 14 | 14 |
| 16 | Everton | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 4 |
| 17 | Aston Villa | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 10 | -5 | 4 |
| 18 | West Ham United | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 | -5 | 4 |
| 19 | Nottingham Forest | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 14 | -10 | 4 |
| 20 | Leicester City | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 16 | -8 | 1 |
Everton are one of two teams that have not won a single game this season, although they have notched up four draws.
Indeed their results this season make rather curious reading…
| Date | Match | Res | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 Aug 2022 | Everton v Chelsea | L | 0-1 | Premier League |
| 13 Aug 2022 | Aston Villa v Everton | L | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 20 Aug 2022 | Everton v Nottingham Forest | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 23 Aug 2022 | Fleetwood Town v Everton | W | 0-1 | League Cup |
| 27 Aug 2022 | Brentford v Everton | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 30 Aug 2022 | Leeds United v Everton | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 3 Sep 2022 | Everton v Liverpool | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
On the other hand Everton seem to have quite a hefty wages bill according to data from Planet Football
1. Manchester United – £223million
2. Chelsea – £164.4million
3. Manchester City – £163.1million
4. Liverpool – £141.8million
5. Tottenham – £101.3million
6. Arsenal – £85.5million
7. Aston Villa – £75.2million
8. West Ham United – £70.2million
9. Leicester City – £65.6million
10. Newcastle United – £62.6million
11. Crystal Palace – £59.2million
12. Everton – £46.8million
So maybe no wins and only outside the relegation positions on goal difference is not where they hoped to be at this moment.
It is also interesting to compare where Everton and Arsenal are now compared with one year ago. After six games last season the table was as shown below
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 4 | 11 | 14 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 13 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 13 |
| 4 | Manchester United | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 13 |
| 5 | Everton | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 13 |
| 6 | Brighton and Hove Albion | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 13 |
| 7 | West Ham United | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 11 |
| 8 | Aston Villa | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 10 |
| 9 | Brentford | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 9 |
| 10 | Arsenal | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 10 | -5 | 9 |
Something happened that took the two clubs in opposite directions last season.
More news later…
