FPL team guides: Everton – Best players, predicted line-up + more

We’re profiling all 20 Premier League clubs before Gameweek 1 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) gets underway.

From our top picks from each team to a predicted line-up for the opening weekend, we’ll be covering each top-flight side in detail.

Everton are up next, with the focus here on the Frank Lampard era that started in Gameweek 24 of 2021/22.

Data in this article comes from our Premium Members Area, which you can access with a discounted subscription for as little as £2.49 a month today.

LAST SEASON: ATTACK

GAMEWEEK 24 ONWARDS

*Rankings are weighted per game due to the different number of matches that clubs played from Gameweek 24 onwards

It was a bit of a miserable picture from an attacking perspective after Lampard’s appointment, with only the three relegated clubs scoring at an inferior rate to the Toffees (1.06 per game).

They were bottom-five material for everything from shots to xG, too.

Using our Team Comparison tool to assess Everton before and after Lampard’s appointment, we can see that there was even a downward turn in the underlying numbers from Gameweek 24 onwards:

Above: Everton’s underlying attacking numbers from Gameweeks 1-23 (left) and Gameweeks 24-38 (right). Most figures given are per game.

Lampard could even call upon Richarlison (£8.5m) and an admittedly rusty-looking Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£8.0m) for much of his tenure, with the former now packed off to Tottenham Hotspur.

LAST SEASON: DEFENCE

GAMEWEEK 24 ONWARDS

*Rankings are weighted per game due to the different number of matches that clubs played from Gameweek 24 onwards

The clean sheet count was fairly healthy following Lampard’s appointment, with five shut-outs being banked in 18 matches.

The rest of the underlying defensive data was less impressive as Jordan Pickford (£4.5m) was kept busy, making more saves per 90 minutes (3.76) than all bar two other first-choice goalkeepers.

A comparison of the numbers pre and post-managerial change reveals something of a mixed bag, with big chance concession and xGC not really altering to a significant level:

Above: Everton’s underlying defensive numbers from Gameweeks 1-23 (left) and Gameweeks 24-38 (right). Most figures given are per game.

James Tarkowski (£4.5m) has been brought in over the summer to bolster the backline, with an improvement at defending free-kicks and corners surely a priority: only Leicester had a worse xGC from set plays last season, something that was the case both before and after Lampard’s appointment.

OPENING FIXTURES

A motley collection of opening games sees Everton rank lower-mid-table for fixture difficulty in Gameweeks 1-8, which will be enough to deter many FPL managers from considering the Toffees as viable options.

The concern would be a continuation of their abysmal away form of last season, as most of their early ‘winnable’ matches come on the road.

European qualifiers Chelsea, Liverpool and West Ham all visit Goodison Park between now and the international break. That trio of clubs plus Arsenal were among the division’s seven highest-scoring teams in 2021/22, so multiple clean sheet opportunities don’t leap off the page.

PREDICTED GAMEWEEK 1 LINE-UP

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