Gary Lineker shares what he found ‘odd’ about Everton’s match with West Ham on Saturday

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Everton were desperately unlucky to lose Saturday’s home clash, but that is a phrase becoming worryingly regular as the season nears its climax.

With just three months left of the Premier League to go, the Toffees sit just five points from safety, having failed to win a league match in 2024.

Sean Dyche is doing all he can to send out a team capable of doing the business every week, and yet they continue to let him down. So often the manager must take on the brunt of criticism for the failings of the team, but with this club things are different.

Having had many managers recycle through a similar group of players, all have been let down.

And whilst it is not their effort being called into question but a lack of proficiency, it is still something which needs fixing as soon as possible.

Gary Lineker offered his thoughts on the clash just yesterday, reinforcing the ‘odd’ trend that continues to emerge.

What Gary Lineker said about Everton’s game with West Ham

Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, the former Everton and Barcelona marksman pulled no punches in his assessment of the Toffees’ display.

Even comparing their woes to Burnley, Lineker noted: ‘It was an odd game, they won 3-1 at Everton but Everton, lads… I mean it’s the story of, well more than just this season but, just not being able to finish it off when they get the amount of chances that they do.

‘They have loads but it’s like Alan said about Burnley, it’s kind of an important ingredient of the game isn’t it, finishing it off.’

Sean Dyche needs to sort out a worrying trend

As aforementioned, this is a trend that Dyche simply must fix.

Everton peppered Alphonse Areola’s goal and yet could only score once, despite accumulating an expected goals of 2.73.

And this is far from the first time they have posted such a gross underperformance.

In fact, they actually have the worst underperformance of their expected goals in the entire Premier League, having scored just 29 from the 47.13 they were expected to have scored.

The closest is Chelsea, who only have an 8.03 difference between their prediction and reality.

But no longer can Dyche feel sorry for himself and the lack of quality he boasts. They need results now, and should this lack of fortune persist, there will be no handouts in the relegation fight.

They must scrap for every point, and do all they can to remain above water.

Whether it be extra hours on the training pitch or shattering some kind of psychological barrier to improve confidence, it is a trend that needs sorting.