The concerning underlying data that Everton must address next season

​It does not require a deep dive to assess Everton’s areas for improvement next season, with the optics obvious for those who watched David Moyes’s men with regularity last season.

The implosion of the club’s European chase saw familiar flaws exposed, with shortcomings in both boxes, ageing personnel, and goalscoring woes all evident. But with the dust settled on the season gone, I thought I’d assess the data of the 2025-26 campaign.

What offers encouragement? And, crucially, what are the clearest areas for improvement? The latter, in particular, shone a spotlight on some concerning numbers that need addressing.

A lack of goal threat continues to haunt Everton

Everton’s lack of a reliable goalscorer has been a well-documented issue. Just five teams scored fewer goals than the Toffees last season, three of which were relegated. It’s been a recurring theme, with Everton ranking in the bottom four teams for goals scored in each of the previous three Premier League campaigns.

It’s been four seasons since Everton had a player reach double figures for Premier League goals, with Richarlison last to achieve that feat in 2021-22 (10). Not since Romelu Lukaku in 2016-17 have the Blues had a forward who has reached 20 in a single campaign.

While both Beto and Thierno Barry have faced their fair share of criticism this season, both produced respectable minute-per-goal numbers, amid shared minutes. Beto averaged a goal every 174 minutes, a rate better than either Ollie Watkins or Joao Pedro (178 minutes per goal). Barry scored, on average, every 239 minutes, comparable to Bryan Mbeumo (238).

​Neither is likely to be the long-term solution, but Everton’s issues stretch further than their forwards. Only Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (8) and Iliman Ndiaye (6) managed more than five Premier League goals.

​Everton were not among the most wasteful sides in the Premier League, boasting almost identical xG to goals scored data. However, chance creation was a big issue. Only six teams created a lower xG than the Blues. Among the teams to avoid relegation, only Fulham and Sunderland created fewer 'big chances'.

Moyes must fix the muddled out-of-possession plan

There has rarely been more emphasis on out-of-possession work than right now. Anthony Gordon’s £69M move to Barcelona is the latest prime example. The 25-year-old can flatter to deceive when it comes to attacking output, but statistically ranks among Europe’s leading forwards for defensive work. It’s enough to have earned him a high-profile transfer to Catalonia, as Hansi Flick follows the school of thought that a well-implemented press trumps any playmaker when it comes to disrupting defences.

A scan of Everton’s out-of-possession numbers contains a curious quirk. Everton, at surface level, are among the Premier League leaders for various pressing statistics.

​Only Manchester City and Brighton had a higher number of press sequences, defined by Opta as ‘passages of play where a defending team applies physical or spatial pressure to force an opposition team's passing sequence to end’. Furthermore, Everton ranked fourth for high turnovers, the number one statistic for high-pressing teams.

All positive, until we dig deeper.

When assessing Everton’s ‘Passes Per Defensive Action’, the Toffees plummet to 16th in the Premier League. Essentially, Everton’s pressing volume is so high because the Blues are surrendering so much possession.

Opposition teams are actually being allowed a high number of passes between each pressing action. Whether this is an intentional defensive tactical plan, or a direct result of the team’s low possession, it’s evidence of a lack of athleticism and, ultimately, intensity. Across Europe's top-five leagues, Everton posted some of the lowest numbers for percentage of time sprinting in and out of possession. It's often said "let the ball do the work" — something Everton have struggled with, and the numbers reflect it.

Everton are also guilty of squandering their turnovers. Though the Toffees rank fifth in the Premier League for regaining possession in high areas of the pitch, it has failed to result in chances. Their numbers for turnovers leading to goals (4) and shots (13.33%) are among the worst in the Premier League.

Left-sided bias shows how badly Everton need a new right flank

What was obvious watching Everton last season was the lack of genuine footballers in the side. For a side operating at the top tier of English football, there was a concerning lack of comfort in possession.

Only the three relegated teams had a lower average possession than Everton (43.7%) in 2025-26, while only Wolves mustered fewer sequences of 10 passes or more. Everton are not a side that dictates the game.

Those issues are amplified by a lack of natural right-sided players. The Jake O’Brien experiment has gone on far too long at right-back, while Everton experimented with various right-wing options without truly fulfilling the role. The numbers show a team with an aversion to exploring that channel.

Only Sunderland played a lower percentage of their passes to the right-hand side of the pitch than Everton (22.9%), an issue which created predictability in the Blues’ build-up.

Blues’ backline was fortunate in 2025-26 — it’s time to replace the old guard

​One of the biggest frustrations of Everton’s run-in collapse was a failure to change a defence that continued to be exposed. 

Jarrad Branthwaite was badly missed, with James Tarkowski and Michael Keane struggling at centre-back. Everton failed to keep a clean sheet as the season concluded with a seven-game winless run, though that’s not a statistic that should surprise.

Only three teams conceded more shots on goal than Everton in 2025-26, while only Manchester City had a larger positive gap between Expected Goals Against (xGA) and actual goals conceded.

On that metric, Everton conceded 6.51 goals fewer than would reasonably be expected to concede, based on the quality of the opposition side’s chances. Those numbers caught up with the club across the run-in.

Read more - Can Everton keep fan favourite Iliman Ndiaye after star rejects multiple contract offers?

 

 

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