Everton share of unwanted history revealed as worrying stat emerges

Everton finally got off the mark and scored their first two goals of the Premier League season during a 2-2 draw at Bramall Lane against Sheffield United on Saturday (2 September).

It has been an incredibly poor start to the season for the Toffees, who were without a point or a goal from their opening three league matches ahead of their trip to South Yorkshire. However, against the Blades, they managed to finally get off the mark.

Goals from Abdoulaye Doucoure and Arnaut Danjuma, as well as some heroics between the sticks from Jordan Pickford, were enough to see them escape with a point and get their season up and running.

Nonetheless, despite the positivity this would have brought to those at Goodison Park, it is still not enough, with a worrying stat now emerging in regard to the club’s start to the campaign.

As revealed in Mail Sport’s print edition (4 September, page 2), Sean Dyche’s men have made the joint-worst start to a Premier League season in the club’s history, last only achieving one point after four games in 1994/95, and that year they at least had more goals, with four compared to two.

Their draw with Sheffield United also means that they have only won one of their previous 12 games against newly promoted sides, which represents plenty of opportunities to pick up points dropped.

However, while this is not ideal, Dyche is no stranger to facing adversity and has built a career off of fighting uphill battles. He managed to steer the club clear of the drop zone last season and will certainly be confident of repeating the trick.

Regardless of the stat, the club will still take plenty of positives away from the past week. They scored four goals across two games and recorded their first win of the season, a 2-1 victory at Doncaster Rovers in the second round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday 30 August.

Two of their new signings showed signs of turning the team around, as striker Beto grabbed a goal on his debut in the cup while Danjuma scored twice in as many matches. As a result, fans will be quick to dismiss the stat and be hopeful they can start to see an upturn in form.

And after all, the last time they started with a point they weren’t relegated, so who is to say they will be this year?