Everton stumbled to yet another dismal defeat on Sunday at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur, dropping down to 14th place in the Premier League table in the process and cementing their start to the season and nothing short of disappointing. After a start which provided so much promise, the Blues now have one win in their last seven games, with that being an undeserved win against Crystal Palace. Things do not get any easier on Monday Night Football, with a trip to high-flying Sunderland looming.
League position struggles to tell the full story this season. Everton are as far off the Champions League places as they are off the relegation zone; the issue is that they only look like they are heading one way. Through a lack of creativity, which is quite frankly disgraceful after the summer acquisitions of Jack Grealish and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Everton are too predictable and, simply, boring to watch. It is tiring knowing how every single match will play out before a ball is even kicked.
Everton will not be in any sort of relegation battle this season unless things go disastrously wrong. On the flip side, Everton will not be in a race for Europe. A quiet, mid-to-lower-table finish seems on the cards yet again, something that was yearned for during the years of 2022 and 2023. After over £100m in summer, is that good enough, though? I am not sure.
Looking a bit sooner into the future, Monday’s opponents have been the shock of the season so far. Sunderland sit in fourth place, with 17 points after 9 games and only losing two in the process. A smash and grab win at Stamford Bridge on Saturday underlined that Sunderland are not here to be the whipping boys of the season – they want to stay up and perhaps even secure a top-half finish at the end of the year.
Everton and Sunderland – History
Everton and Sunderland have not played each other since 2017, as a result of Sunderland’s relegation from the Premier League.
In their last meeting in September 2017, Everton came away with a 3-0 win at Goodison Park, in the League Cup.
Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford will be returning to the Stadium of Light for the first time since joining Everton from the Black Cats!
Team News
For once, there are no new absentees for Everton, with Jarrad Brantwaite and Nathan Patterson being the only players confirmed to miss this match.
Sunderland also have few absentees, with Dennis Cirkin, Romaine Mundle, and club-record signing Habib Diarra being the only ones sidelined.
What the Manager says
On a potential striker switch – ‘I will look to see if there are other options if I think I am not getting what I want. We’ve got two people who are number nines. Ili, you mentioned, gives you less of a focal point and changed how you may have to play and build. We’ve got one or two others who could possibly come into that debate, as well.’
On his time at Sunderland – ‘I had a really good time. I loved being up there. It was difficult in that we didn’t do so well, but I had a really good time at Sunderland.’
On the defeat to Spurs – ‘We were disappointed to lose by 3-0. I don’t think we’d lost by that many since I came in. Overall, I thought the performance was fine. Set-pieces play a big part in football and they always have done. We have to deal with it a bit better.’
Everton key player
Thierno Barry – After a season of constant chopping and changing between Barry and Beto as Everton’s starting striker, now is the time to give the youngster a run of games. Beto simply is not good enough, and I do not see any positives to prioritising him over the new £30million summer signing. That is not to say that Barry has been anywhere near good enough either when he has played – far from it. Yet what good does substituting him off after 45 minutes after every start do?
This week, Barry has posted on Instagram in his Everton gear, for the first time since deleting all of his posts including Everton. At the end of the post, he added an image which said ‘Ok my turn.’ He seems like a young player desperate to make things work at his new club, and with Beto’s poor form continuing to hurt Everton, now is Barry’s time to make that position his. It cannot be understated how important that first goal will be for him.
Against a physical team like Sunderland, with such a resolute defence, Everton simply have to have a focal point up front. Beto has proven time and time again that he cannot make the ball stick – something that Thierno Barry seems to be able to do. When he came on against Spurs on Sunday, some nice touches and hold-up play provided a glimpse into what he can do. For me, this selection is a no-brainer on Monday night.
One to watch for Sunderland
Nordi Mukiele – ‘Why weren’t we in for him?’ is a question that is thrown around far too often, but in this case it is fully justified. Signed from PSG for just under £10million, the defender has proven his versatility in both a back four and back five already this season, massively impressing in both systems. In a summer full of incomings for Sunderland, he appears to be the standout signing.
Everton have been crying out for a right-back since Seamus Coleman broke his leg all those years ago. When an opportunity arises to buy a proven Champions League full back for under £10million, it is a mystery why Everton did not pursue it. Especially when you take into account how well Mukiele could cover at centre back if needed during the rehabilitation of Jarrad Branthwaite.
Mukiele has been one of the standout players, let alone defenders, in the whole of the Premier League this season, and proved his attacking threat with a goal against Wolves two weeks ago. I expect Sunderland to line up with a back five on Monday, meaning that Mukiele could prove vital to an already sturdy defence.
Final Thoughts
This is hardly a game you want to go into if you are in the middle of a poor run of form, like Everton are. Whilst I think that Sunderland will struggle to maintain their incredible form for the most of the season, they are currently one of the most efficient and difficult teams to play in the whole league – especially away from home, a place where they have not lost all season.
As for the league as a whole, we are in a very weird place. Set pieces and long throws are dominating the league; teams are playing for moments rather than a game as a whole. This suits the promoted teams well – and this is not meant as disrespect to Sunderland. Their first goal came from a long throw against Chelsea last week, their second a counter attack after sitting deep all game. Promoted teams have been doing this for years, but now the Premier League has evolved to a point where the lesser teams now have a better chance of beating established top-flight teams.
Prediction
1-1 – This will not be an easy game, nor will it be easy on the eye. It seems reminiscent of the defeat to Leeds in Gameweek One, in that Everton go away to a promoted team, under the lights on a Monday night. This is Sunderland’s first Monday night game since promotion – the atmosphere in the ground will be unlike anything we have faced this season so far.
This game will be mostly focused on set pieces, which Everton unfortunately struggle with. Everton also struggle with the game being played on their terms, in front of a deep block. The Blues are low in confidence and the start to the game is key – if Everton find themselves on top, they will fancy themselves to go on to win this. Conversely, if they struggle in the first twenty minutes, they’d snap your hand off for a point.
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