OPTA | Harvey Downes: Return of the Moyesiah

– 16th in the table

– One point above the relegation zone

– One win in 11 (D6 L4)

– Winless in five (D3 L2)

– Failed to score in eight of their last 10 Premier League games

THE state of play for David Moyes on his return to Goodison Park, with Everton staring down the face of yet another relegation battle.

Fast forward eight games and the Toffees find themselves 15 points above the relegation zone with top-flight football all but secured for yet another season. Since Moyes’ return, only run-away leaders and Merseyside neighbours Liverpool (21) have won more Premier League points than Everton (15), with the Toffees extending their unbeaten league run to seven games on Wednesday evening following their 1-1 draw at Brentford (their longest run without defeat since December 2017 under Sam Allardyce).

P	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Liverpool	9	6	3	0	19	7	12	21
2	Crystal Palace	7	5	0	2	14	5	9	15
3	Everton	8	4	3	1	15	9	6	15
4	Brighton and Hove Albion	7	5	0	2	14	10	4	15
5	Arsenal	7	4	2	1	12	5	7	14
Premier League since 14th January (start of MD21)

An instant impact and a far cry from the turmoil he had inherited under two months prior.

In fact, only Carlo Ancelotti (17) has won more points from his first eight Premier League games in charge of Everton than Moyes’ 15 this time round (including second spells separately).

But how do the numbers compare to “Dyche-Ball”?

PG	Under Dyche	Premier League 24-25 Everton	Under Moyes	PG
–	19	Games Played	8	–
–	3	Games Won	4	–
–	8	Games Drawn	3	–
–	8	Games Lost	1	–
0.79	15	Goals	15	1.88
1.32	25	Goals Conceded	9	1.13
–	-10	Goal Difference	6	–
0.89	17	Points	15	1.88
ATTACK
0.96	18.3	xG	11.6	1.45
–	-3.3	Goals – xG	3.4	–
–	6.9	Shot Conversion %	18.3	–
1.5	28	Big Chance Total	26	3.3
–	21.4	Big Chance Conversion %	42.3	–
11.4	216	Shots	82	10.3
3.3	63	Shots on Target	38	4.8
DEFENCE
1.41	26.86	xG Against	7.62	0.95
13.3	252	Shots Faced	91	11.4
4.7	89	Shots on Target Faced	27	3.4
7.2	137	High Turnovers	62	7.8
2.8	54	Big Chances Conceded	15	1.9
28.0	532	Opponent Touches in Everton’s Box	188	23.5
1.0	19	Fast Breaks Against	6	0.8

As you can see, Everton have improved in almost every aspect since Moyes’ return and while they were attempting more shots on a per game basis under Sean Dyche (11.4 to 10.3) the quality of their finishing has improved significantly, with increases in shots on target, shot conversion rate, big chance creation and big chance conversion under Moyes.

Having scored just seven open play goals in 19 games under Sean Dyche this season, Everton have already scored 10 in eight games under Moyes.

In fact, since the start of MD21 (14th January) only Liverpool (19) and Man City (17) have scored more goals than the Everton (15 – below graphic excludes own goals), with the Toffees over performing on xG by close to three and a half goals.

One player that has benefitted from the new manager bounce more than any other is striker Beto, who has already scored more goals under Moyes (5 in 7 games) than he did under Dyche (4 in 42 games).

Having played second fiddle to Dominic Calvert-Lewin (when fit) for the majority of his Everton career to date, Beto has finally found his shooting boots, netting in four consecutive Premier League games prior to Wednesday’s draw at Brentford, with each of his last three strikes putting Everton 1-0 up (vs Liverpool, Crystal Palace & Man Utd).

Under Dyche	Premier League – Beto	Under Moyes
42	Games	7
1158	Minutes	532
4	Goals	5
289.5	Mins/Goal	106.4
7.4	Shot Conversion %	31.3
1.1	Big Chances P90	1.4
28.6	Big Chance Conversion %	62.5
-4.44	Goals – xG	2.13

In fact, of all players to score 5+ Premier League goals under David Moyes, Beto has the best minutes per goal ratio.

PL Under David Moyes	Goals (5+)	Mins/Goal
Beto	5	106.4
van Persie, Robin	11	133.3
Welbeck, Danny	9	142.9
Vaughan, James	7	155.6
Lingard, Jesse	9	158.2

Following their fourth round FA Cup defeat to Bournemouth, Everton now have a nine-day break before taking on Wolves where they will aim to go an eighth consecutive Premier League game without defeat – the last time David Moyes enjoyed such a run in the competition was back in November 2012 with Everton.

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