Everton have had a season full of trials and tribulations so far. From being hit with a ten point deduction to beating West Ham 1-0, Sean Dyche has revived a team which looked certain to be down.
Most fans would expect any team that received a ten-point hit to be down and out for the count, however, since that was announced, it seems as though Everton have gained a new lease of life.
The Toffees find themselves in 17th place with a points total of 21. This puts them just one point into safety, but, when their earlier points which were deducted are added onto their total, they should be placed in 13th, above the likes of Crystal Palace and Bournemouth.
One area Dyche's men have seemingly struggled the most in is that of the goal-scoring department. The Merseyside club have only scored a total of 28 goals in England's top flight, which ranks them as the third-lowest-scoring team in the Premier League.
Granted, although Beto and Dominic Calvert-Lewin can't be held as the only ones at fault, being the focal point of attack requires them to score goals and, unfortunately for Everton, that's something they can't seem to do.
Beto's season in numbers so far
Beto joined the Toffees in the summer transfer window for a fee in the region of £25.75m and although this may not seem a lot for a player who scored a total of ten Serie A goals throughout the 2022/23 season, the form he has shown whilst representing Everton has been nothing short of woeful.
Since arriving in Merseyside, he has played a total of 28 games and has only managed to score three goals. However, two of those strikes came in the Carabao Cup with one of which coming against League 2 side, Doncaster Rovers.
So, when broken down, that roughly equates to a total of £8.58m per goal, which, in anyone's eyes, is nowhere near the standard that you'd expect from a Premier League striker.
In Everton's most recent game against Brighton, Beto started on the bench and only entered the pitch in the 68th minute but failed to perform when he did come on.
As per Sofascore, during his 22 minutes on the pitch, he managed a total of two shots and one was even off target. This resulted in the Portugal international generating a total xG of 0.10.
Calvert-Lewin, whom Beto replaced, didn't, however, do much better. Despite playing over triple the amount of time the 26-year-old did, the England international failed to register a shot whatsoever.
Beto's arrival at Goodison Park resulted in striker, Neal Maupay being shipped off to his former club, Brentford on a season-long loan. However, it now feels as if Dyche made a mistake by letting go of the former Brentford man.
Neal Maupay's season in numbers so far
Since arriving at Brentford, the £50k-per-week man has played a total of 22 games across all competitions and has amassed a total of ten goal contributions thus far.
This number is just one less than that of Calvert-Lewin's and Beto's combined. This begs the question, should Maupay have been the one to depart?
The Frenchman may well be a beneficiary of Thomas Frank's system in London, he has proven he can be a reliable source of productivity in the Premier League, notably netting a beauty against Nottingham Forest on his way to seven goals for the campaign,
Although he hasn't left the side permanently, the January transfer window has now passed and the Toffees will have to stick it out with their two current talismans.
However, looking at their form across the season thus far, it feels as if they won't be able to progress any further if they don't buck their ideas up.
Hence, why, by the end of the season, Dyche may come to regret his decision to allow Maupay to depart the club.
