Everton have some of the best opening fixtures out of anyone in the premier league, similar to those of Man City and Liverpool. This has lead managers to heavily consider both their attacking and defensive options. In their defence, goalkeeper Pickford has had a price increase up to £5.5m reducing his appeal. Within their defence, it is unclear who will partner Keane at centre back who is also priced at £5.5m. This means Lucas Digne and Seamus Coleman, at £6.0m and £5.5m respectively, are the most appealing Everton defensive options going into this season due to their increased attacking potential.
Everton kept 14 clean sheets, 2 every 5 matches, showing there is also potential for clean sheet returns. This statistic doesn’t show how solid Everton were in the second half of the season with them keeping 10 clean sheets in the last 17 games of the season including against Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Man United.
Seamus Coleman (Everton, £5.5m)
Coleman is Everton’s Right Back and is priced at £5.5m in FPL. He started 29 matches and was never used as a substitute last season, as he scored 125 points in total averaging 4.3 points per match played and then 0.78 points, per million, per match. He missed 6 matches through injury and was on the bench only three times, showing that he is a very small rotation risk as he does also captain Everton.
He picked up just 1 yellow card in this season and provided 2 goals 2 assists. Coleman returned double digits 4 times this season with just two negative scores both being -1. Coleman has suffered from several injuries including a broken leg or a calf strain last season. This could mean what we saw last season was not his full potential and so Coleman offers us a bargain buy, or it could be a worry to managers that injuries could ruin his potential again.
Lucas Digne (Everton, £6.0m)
Lucas Digne is Everton’s left back and costs £6.0m in FPL and started 33 matches this season. He was selected to start for the first 3 games of the season and then missed 1 match through suspension and came on as a substitute in the other. He scored 158 points last season which averages as 4.78 points per match and so 0.79 points per million per match.
He has proved himself as the starting left back for Everton over Leighton Baines, having started all but one game after gameweek 3 that he was available for. He picked up 5 yellows and 1 red card. Throughout the season he picked up 4 goals 4 assists. Digne scored 5 double digit hauls with a high of 17 but also provided 3 negative returns with two -1’s and one -2 score. Lucas Digne also has the increased appeal being on some set pieces. Notably taking corners, which provided some of his assists as well as indirect and direct free kicks which provided 3 out of his four goals this season. He does compete with Siggurdson for these, however, he does seem to be favoured especially due to his left foot offering a variety from set pieces.
Verdict
The statistics show that both options offer a similar points return for their value with Digne out performing Coleman slightly last season but also having a £0.5m higher price tag. They both offer very certain starts when available for selection with Coleman being the club captain and Digne being one of their star players. Digne tends to offer a less consistent return pattern than Coleman, but with increased explosivity. Digne received more cards than Coleman and so scored more negative scores but also returned double the number of goals and assists to him.
Overall these options will be fairly similar going forward into this season and if Coleman can stay fit his £5.5m price tag will be a favourable one. However, there seems to be a larger appeal for Lucas Digne does with his attacking and set piece potential.
Written by FPL Tipz (@FPLTIPZ)
