Everton face Aston Villa in the Premier League this afternoon in another crucial match in their fight against relegation.
Sean Dyche has led the Toffees to two wins from his opening three matches in charge, and this new manager bounce has moved them out of the drop zone – for now.
Everton fully deserved their win against Leeds United last week, having been much more effective going forward than their opponents with six shots on target, and Dyche will be expecting a similar performance from his side today.
Against the Whites last Saturday, Dwight McNeil proved to be quite the attacking threat, making three key passes and completing 50% of his dribble attempts while delivering 15 crosses in total and Dyche will require some of the same from him today.
Will McNeil start against Aston Villa?
The winger may not post outstanding numbers – registering only four goal contributions this term – but he has created five big chances, and his threat from both set pieces and crosses will make him a crucial asset against Villa.
Indeed, among midfielders in Europe’s top five leagues, McNeil ranks in the top 3% for crosses (6.34), top 1% for successful take-ons (2.18) and top 8% for carries into the opposition penalty area (0.52) per match. These figures suggest that he is amongst one of the finest exponents of his position in Europe when it comes to crossing and dribbling past opponents.
Having played under Dyche during his spell at Burnley, the 23-year-old will surely be able to benefit from such prior working knowledge of his manager going forward, becoming more effective in this Everton side.
This appointment by the Toffees could help in rejuvenating McNeil to fulfil his potential. He was dubbed a “special player” by journalist Andy Jones, while Dyche has previously described him as a “real threat”. Such praise suggests that Everton have a real player on their hands, and that they just haven’t been able to get the best out of him yet.
In Dyche’s first three games in charge, the £25k-per-week dynamo has an average Sofascore rating of 7/10, a solid start which should only improve once the rest of the team gets used to the new manager’s methods.
McNeil could cause Villa a few problems today ,and judging by his display last week, he should be one of the first names on the Everton team sheet.
