What To Expect From Everton This Season

Under new boss Roberto Martinez, after David Moyes took up the role at Old Trafford, Everton should be confident of a decent season this year. The Toffees finished in 6th place last season, however they came nine points behind 5th place Tottenham so there is room for improvement to reach a Europa League place - which is an ambition that a club of Everton's talent should have. The key to Everton's success last season was the tactic of going out not to lose the game. They only lost seven last season, which is third least along with Arsenal and Chelsea, only the two Manchester clubs lost less. However, it is clear that the manager at the time - David Moyes - tried only not to lose games, rather than going out to score lots of goals and win with style (a worrying point for any United fans). We can see from last season's Premier League table that Everton had the worst goal difference out of any team that finished in the top seven, managing a +15 by May. They also scored the least goals out of any team in the top seven, netting 55 times over the season. The second lowest figure was 66, achieved by Tottenham and Manchester City.

From those stats it is clear that Everton needed some more power up front. Evidently, Roberto Martinez thought so too, so when he came in he swiftly signed Arouna Kone from his former club Wigan, and took youngster Gerard Delofeu on loan from Barcelona. However, he wasn't finished there. He managed to fashion a deal with Chelsea for their young striker Romelu Lukaku on transfer deadline day. The 20 year-old forward had a fantastic time at West Brom last season, proving himself to be among the very best that the Premier League has to offer by way of young talent and getting plenty of goals along the way. He will no doubt help Everton to score goals aplenty if that is the style of play that Martinez wants to utilise this season. In other areas of the pitch, Everton have improved by signing 22 year-old midfielder James McCarthy and ex-Aston Villa star and forgotten Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry. These two will help to secure the midfield position following the biggest event of Everton's transfer window - the departure of Marouane Fellaini. Fellaini completed his 'dream move' to Manchester United late on in the window to leave Everton without their star player for the season ahead. 

Everton's start to the season will have been disappointing for many Toffees fans. Three draws out of three - having scored only two goals - is not what has come to be expected of the Merseyside club. A 2-2 draw away at Norwich and two 0-0 draws - West Brom (H) and Cardiff (A) - have left many fans frustrated at Roberto Martinez's style of play, and his team have already been described as too defensive. Everton's next six games - Chelsea (H), West Ham (A), Newcastle (H), Man City (A), Hull (H) and Aston Villa (A) - should, on paper, be plain sailing for them. With the obvious exception of the Chelsea and Man City games, Everton will be expected to win most of those fixtures. 

Maybe if I was writing this at the beginning of last season, I would have been more optimistic. But with the losses of both David Moyes and Fellaini to Manchester United, and the lack of attacking flair that Martinez employs, I just can't see them causing a stir this year. Hopefully the new signings like Lukaku and McCarthy prove me wrong, but for now I'm not so sure. As for a prediction, I'm certain they'll get in the top ten, but they won't surpass last year's achievements. If not because of the loss they've suffered, it will be because of how most of the other teams at the top have improved themselves. So I'm going to say that Everton will finish in 7th or 8th place come May.       

What To Expect From Crystal Palace This Season

Having been promoted through the play-off system rather than achieving automatic promotion, Crystal Palace are a team that will - despite their winning mentality and fresh enthusiasm - have a hard time in the Premier League this season. The Eagles finished 5th in the Championship last season, four points in front of 6th placed Leicester. They then went on to beat Brighton 2-0 on aggregate in the play-off semi-final and they managed to sneak a 1-0 win over Watford at Wembley to send them into one of the biggest and most watched leagues in the world. Crystal Palace's strong point last season was their goalscoring - as they scored 73 goals, the most of any team except Watford. However, their weak point also concerns goals, namely the amount of goals they let in. They conceded 62 goals last season, the most of any team to reach the play-off places or above. If Ian Holloway's men let in so many goals in England's second tier of football, who knows how many they will concede in the top division?  

Palace have done a LOT of business this summer, with many players coming in and out of the club. Their three biggest signings - judging by the fame of the players - are arguably Jimmy Kebe, Marouane Chamakh and Jason Puncheon (who has come in on a season-long loan deal). However, the player who has had the largest effect on the London club following his departure after a loan spell at Palace from his current club, is Wilfried Zaha. The Englishman - born in the Ivory Coast - was signed by Manchester United in January and was sent immediately on loan back to his long-time club. He was a pivotal player for Palace during their promotion charge, and will leave a gaping hole in the squad this season. 

Crystal Palace's start to the season is an average one, but not unexpected. Two losses - Tottenham at home (0-1) and Stoke away (2-1) - and one win - Sunderland at home (3-1) - puts them in 14th place at the time of writing. Their next six games - Manchester United (A), Swansea (H), Southampton (A), Liverpool (A), Fulham (H) and Arsenal (H) - will prove to be an enormous challenge for Holloway's side. Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal will be games that the fans will probably expect to lose, but games like Southampton and Swansea may prove to be entertaining games in which Palace could produce a shock win - providing their underdog mentality drives them.

However, though they may be able to claim the odd Premier League scalp between now and the end of the season, I can't see Crystal Palace achieving anything more than one season at the highest level. Realistically, they are not well rounded enough to beat enough of the best teams in the country to stay in this league. And with the loss of their talisman, Zaha, Palace don't even have a household name to turn to when the going gets tough. That is why, regretfully, I have to predict that they will be relegated at the end of this season, either an 18th or 19th place finish.