Sean Dyche has now revealed the key message the Everton coach received from staff at Goodison Park that can steer them away from the Premier League relegation zone.
The Toffees claimed a comfortable 3-0 win over relegation rivals Bournemouth last weekend to edge away from the bottom three. Everton now sit three points clear of the drop zone for 16th place with seven points from eight games. It was only their second win of the term yet.
Saturday’s meeting on Merseyside also returned a third of Everton’s goals for this season so far, too. Dyche’s players had only scored six goals across their opening seven games having also beaten Brentford 3-1. Everton hit twice against Sheffield United and once against Luton.
Sean Dyche is putting a lot of trust in xG at Everton
Dyche spoke after Everton beat Bournemouth 3-0 on Saturday about how the result justified their performances having exceeded their xG. Fotmob recorded the Toffees’ expected goals last weekend at 2.49. It also registers their xG for the season at 14.9, the league’s ninth-best.
Newcastle United have the best xG in the Premier League this term at 17.5 but have actually scored 20. Liverpool are also exceeding their 16.9 xG with 18. Brighton (21 from 16.6), Aston Villa (19 from 15.6), Manchester City (17 from 15.2) and Arsenal (16 from 15.2) are, as well.
Only Chelsea rank higher than Everton for xG with 15.2 and are also underachieving with 11 goals so far. Tottenham rank between the Blues and Toffees with an xG of 15.1 but boast 18 goals. West Ham are exceeding their xG, as well, with 15 goals from an xG of 12.5 this term.
Sean Dyche knew the Blues would beat Bournemouth
Dyche is putting a lot of trust in xG as he plans his first full season as the manager of Everton this term. Feedback from the Blues’ analytics staff also convinced the coach that the Toffees would beat Bournemouth before taking their biggest home winning margin since April 2019.
“It’s a long-term xG high that we’ve been having and it’s been mainly this season,” Dyche told talkSPORT. “Last season, maybe not so much. We had a few games where it was but this season it’s been consistently high home and away. You have to put it in the melting pot.
“If the performance on your eyes is right, and the feel of the group is right, and the connected eyes amongst your staff and the analysis is right, and the breakdown in analysis is right then it will turn.”
Dyche added: “We’ve got an insight team that crunch the numbers like mad. They use the same metric every time and Charlie, who leads it, I said to him, ‘What would you change?’ and he said, ‘Nothing. The stats are absolutely there. You’ve just got to keep producing.”
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