The Top Flight
Fansided

Premier League: Four Teams Who Missed Expectations

By Keith Lisenbee

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 25: Mateo Kovacic of Chelsea after Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich scores a goal to make it 3-0 during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg match between Chelsea FC and FC Bayern Muenchen at Stamford Bridge on February 25, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 25: Mateo Kovacic of Chelsea after Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich scores a goal to make it 3-0 during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg match between Chelsea FC and FC Bayern Muenchen at Stamford Bridge on February 25, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 5
Next

1. Everton

Yes, it’s true. The two Merseyside rivals sit on opposite ends of the expectations rankings so far this season.

Per Transfermarkt, Everton spent $131.89 million on transfers in the last two transfer windows. They hoped they would make a jump up the table and challenge for a European spot.

After a 5-2 thrashing in the Merseyside Derby, Everton dropped into the relegation zone sitting in 18th place. Their manager, Marco Silva, was given a pink slip, a cardboard box for his stuff, and a gift card for the club gift shop (sorry, I made that last one up) as he was shown the door.

More from The Top Flight

Everton again went all in when they hired legendary manager, Carlo Ancelotti, right before the holidays. He has led the team up to 12th place in the table and 10 points from the drop.

The Toffees’ advanced analytics are woeful.

Everton has the sixth-highest xG in the Top Flight at 46.58, however, they have scored 37 goals. Their offensive conversion rate of -9.58 is the second-worst in the division.

Ancelotti’s team only has two players, Richarlison (ten goals) and Bernard (3), with a positive goal conversion rate. They also have two players who have negative conversion rates higher than two, Theo Walcott and Gylfi Sigurdsson.

Two things stand out when looking at Everton’s defensive advanced analytics, tackling and poor goalkeeping. The Toffees tackle a lot. They are second in the Premier League in tackles and are tied for the lead in tackles in the attacking third. The club is also sixth in the percentage of tackles won.

England international Jordan Pickford has the second-worst save percentage in the Premier League. The PSxG/SoT of shots that he has had to face is 0.33, which is the league’s seventh-highest.

As of result of high numbers of tackles and poor goalkeeping, Everton has the league’s worst defensive goal conversion rate of -8.76. Their xGA is seventh lowest in the division at 37.24, yet have conceded the sixth-most goals with 46.

Next. Who is the man to lead Newcastle’s new Saudi adventure. dark

Simply put, Ancelotti’s club has been horrendous at converting goal opportunities into real goals and also at stopping their opponents from converting their chances. The result is an xPTS that is seventh highest in the Top Flight, but with the 19th ranked conversion rate at -9.65.

The good news for Ancelotti and the other managers on this list is that there is room to grow.

All statistics are courtesy of FBref.com and understat.com.

Home/Premier League