Football Season Guide

Despite having been deducted a total of eight points last season, Everton comfortably secured safety after finishing 15th, 14 points from relegation zone. This means that without the point deduction the Toffees would have finished only one point behind Palace in 10th. In the offseason, Everton has been proactive in the transfer market, bringing in Jake O'Brien and Iliman Ndiaye, who are expected to add solidity to the defence and firepower up front, respectively. Meanwhile, Jesper Lindstrøm joined on loan from Napoli to replace Amadou Onana in midfield. At the time of writing, the outlook for Everton is cautiously optimistic. Jarrad Branthwaite and Calvert-Lewin could depart, but the Toffees have already signed replacements and it remains to be seen how long they’ll need to adapt to their new surroundings. The key strength lies in the defence that looked solid last season, where only the top three teams conceded fewer goals than Everton’s 51. Meanwhile, weaknesses still exist. Eleven of their 13 wins were to nil, with Calvert-Lewin’s goalscoring problems never quite going away and Beto only netting three times in his debut season. Summer signing Ndiaye will be called to provide extra firepower in the final third.