2017/18 Premier League Preview Everton
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Ronald Koeman left Southampton to take over at Everton last summer and took them back to 7th place in the Premier League during his first season in charge of the club.
Not only did the Dutchman guide the Toffees 4 places higher in the league table than the previous season, he won an extra 14 points, which translates to four wins and two draws. The new owner of Everton, Farhad Moshiri wasn’t afraid to splash the cash last summer and has continued the same trend this summer.
Can Everton break into the top six this season?
Koeman has wasted no time bringing fresh faces to Goodison during the transfer window and has spent plenty of money. The manager has been backed in the transfer market and this brings its own pressures as the owner will expect results.
Everton are 3/1 to finish in the top six this season and to do so will need to finish above one of Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Liverpool.
Everton have spent over £80 million to bring in defender Michael Keane, goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, midfielder Davvy Klaassen, forward Sandro Ramirez and winger Henry Onyekuru. The latter has already left on loan but every other player in that list will be expected to play a major part in pushing Everton into the top six this season.
Perhaps the most interesting arrival at Goodison this summer is former striker, Wayne Rooney. The England international was struggling to command a regular place in the Manchester United team as his form dipped towards the end of his time at Old Trafford.
Rooney is 66/1 to finish the 2017/18 Premier League season as top goal scorer, which suggests he is going to be some way off the pace yet is 4/6 to be Everton’s top scorer. This must be a concern if Everton are to break into the top six.
This leaves Everton with a problem as star striker, Romelu Lukaku, has left the club. Defensively they look good but in attack they may struggle to score goals. With creative midfielder Ross Barkley 11/10 to start the season at Tottenham Hotspur and 8/1 to be at Everton, this is another quality attacking player the Toffees will need to replace.
If Everton fail to replace the goals provided by Lukaku, they may find they slide down the Premier League table. Everton scored 62 goals last season, 25 of which came from Lukaku. Even if Rooney manages to score 10 goals, that leaves them some way short and it will be interesting to see how they cope without the Belgian.
Everton are 9/2 to finish in the bottom half and while this may seem unlikely, it cannot be ruled out considering their potential problems in attack. However, defensively they will be hoping to improve on last season and new goal keeper, Jordan Pickford is 16/1 to win the Young Player of the Year award.
It’s going to be an interesting season at Goodison, one which has the promise of a top six finish yet could also end in disappointment.
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