Premier League 2019‑20 preview No 8: Everton

On a similar vein, the BT Sports Opta 'script' for 2019-20 also has Everton finishing 8th on 54 points.

BT Sports Opta 'script': Everton

Tea leaves and crystal balls. All silly.

If, however, we finish 8th and on 54 points, I'm going on a one-man riot here in Florida, and overturning cars and lighting shit on fire.

We have to improve this season. If we don't finish north of 60 points, the season is an abject failure.

The Guardian piece is knowledgable but tells Evertonians nothing new - it seems like a good summary for fans of other clubs.

The Opta thing seems ridiculous.

Jamie is right it is all crystal balls and teal leaves but that is part of the fun.

I see we lost 14 games last season which if we converted 7 of those to draws and converted 2 of our draws to wins would give us 11 more points putting us on 65 points which should deliver top 6.

If we do that well or better I will be rioting in Florida too but only in the bars!!

I’d say 65 points is about par (w18 d11 l9), 60 is the minimum acceptable and 70 is a realistic target.

Martinez’s first season was 72pts, if we were to beat that then Champions League qualification is a real possibility. I’d say there are question marks over Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham, but Leicester and Wolves will have similar ambitions to us.

I wouldn’t too be surprised with anything between 3rd and 9th.

All a bit premature given that no one knows yet what each club's squad will be. We could improve on 8th if we sign a few more top players. If not, then maybe 8th or lower is a reasonable guess.

Given that the arse fell out of our season last year due to conceding way too many goals in December and January and shallow squad strength leaving us unable to play two games a week. I would like to see a few defensive assets signed before feeling too chipper about the coming ordeal.

Looks like we're not getting Zouma so I'd like to hear a little bit more about a strong presence like he gave us. Mina and Keane and ???? But I do trust Marcel Brands with 10 days to go....

Because when they do these things every year (At least since Moyes arrived), Everton has just been there sitting around.

Nothing in-depth required. Put pieces of paper in a hat numbered 6, 7, 8. Close eyes, pick one. "Annnnnnd 8th it is for Everton lads, type it in".

With Brands dealings and we push into the Top 6 this season, then they HAVE to talk about us. Until then, we're just "Meh, Everton again. Where's those 3 pieces of paper?"

I always remember Alex Ferguson saying you need a squad with 100 goals in it to win a league, so on that I've been looking at how many you need for a Champions league finish.

I estimate we need a too goalscoring wide man along with Kean to get around that level.

Richalison 15
Siggy 12
Kean 12
New wide man 12
Bernard, DCL, Davies, Gomes 10 between them.
Coleman, Digne rest of defence 15 between them.
Rest of squad 5/7 goals.

Obviously it's all a guessing game, but so was what Fergusons estimate.

A lot rests on us buying a Zaha/Malcom/Neres style player, but if we want to have a right go we need to add to our goal output.

The opposite end of the field also has to play a part, but if we manage 14 or so clean sheets as we did last time out then we should get a good points haul with a strong attack.