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Everton’s resurgence under Marco Silva has seen them rise to sixth in the standings and the performance against Merseyside rivals Liverpool – albeit ill-fated in the end – showed that, despite the Reds making huge strides of their own in recent years, the gap between the two might be starting to close little by little.
They were, in fact, unlucky to not take the lead on many occasions and surely felt hard done by considering the manner in which they conceded in the dying minutes of the game.
The Toffees were able to attract some pretty big names over the summer as they brought in Yerry Mina and Andre Gomes from Barcelona and, in Richarlison and Jordan Pickford, they have exciting young stars that will be essential in pushing for the top six – or even the top four – in years to come.
The old guard of Phil Jagielka, Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman have been loyal servants but look to have been outgrown by the club’s ambition in their twilight years. Finding a player who can fill the boots of the latter must be a priority – Jonjoe Kenny is not quite at that level just yet, but Silva can find a cut-price solution in Wolves’ Matt Doherty.
While the Midlands side’s Portuguese power pairing of Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho often steal the headlines, the Irishman has arguably been their most dependable performer this season and showed no signs of letting his form slip as his side edged out Chelsea on Wednesday night.
Completing two tackles and four interceptions, the versatile defender was instrumental in keeping Eden Hazard quiet but was far from a spectator when the Molineux outfit got the ball forward as he also completed two dribbles to match that of the magical Belgian.
The 26-year-old’s well-rounded showings haven’t completely gone unnoticed, though, as he was voted the PFA Fans’ Player of the Month for September; beating out the likes of Sergio Aguero and Alexander Lacazette to scoop the gong as his side climbed well into the top half, the number 2’s performance standards have not faltered in the slightest since – he has averaged a match rating of 7.32 in the league.
Some wing-backs in the league are all pace, but the five-capped international offers a physical presence that makes him a handful for wingers and full-backs alike, shown by the fact he won three aerial duels against the Blues.
When allowed to pick his head up and find a pass, the right-footer has the quality to pick out a killer through-ball or cross, as shown by his inch-perfect low whip to find Diogo Jota at the back stick, who doubled Nuno’s men’s lead and credited Doherty with an assist that took his tally for the season to three.
Valued at just £4.05m by Transfermarkt, the former Bohemians man would likely cost Everton a lot more than that – it would however represent fantastic value and he could perhaps be one of Silva’s most shrewd signings to date.
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