Dyche must finally drop Everton ace with fewer touches than Pickford

verton‘s strong run of recent form in the Premier League continued as they battled hard to draw 1-1 with Fulham at Goodison Park on Saturday.

A second-half goal from former Toffees attacker Alex Iwobi looked to be the difference between the two sides before Beto scored a fantastic header in stoppage time to secure a point.

The result extended their unbeaten run to five games without a defeat in the top-flight for Sean Dyche‘s side, who had also kept back-to-back clean sheets heading into the match.

Whilst Everton picked up a solid point in the end, there were a few poor performers on the pitch for the Toffees and Jack Harrison was one of them.

Jack Harrison’s performance in numbers

The former Manchester City forward, who is on loan from Leeds United, struggled badly on the flank and did not do enough to justify his selection in the starting XI.

Dyche opted to select him on the right side of the attacking set-up and Harrison did not offer much in or out of possession throughout his 68 minutes on the pitch.

As you can see in the table above, Harrison was incredibly lightweight off the ball, losing 83% of his duels, and offered very little at the top end of the pitch.

Zero shots on target, one key pass, and zero ‘big chances’ created illustrate his lack of impact in the final third for the Toffees, in a game that they lost by just one goal.

Harrison also only had 29 touches of the ball – fewer than his goalkeeper Jordan Pickford (48) – and this shows that the Englishman struggled to get involved in the match before he was substituted, way before Beto’s equaliser.

Why Jack Harrison must be dropped

Dyche must now finally ditch Harrison from the starting XI as the Leeds loanee continues to underperform and underwhelm on the pitch for Everton.

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The left-footed dud has now started seven of his nine appearances in the Premier League this season and, yet, is still looking for his first goal involvement, with zero goals and assists.

His return of zero goals from 0.86 xG in nine outings highlights his lack of quality as a finisher as well as his lack of movement in the final third, as he has failed to generate many high-quality openings.

The winger has been slightly more unfortunate as a creator, with zero assists from two ‘big chances’ created, but has less than 1.0 Expected Assists – on 0.84.

Out of possession, Harrison has been a weak link for the Toffees. He has lost the majority of his duels on the ground and in the air, winning 46% of his ground battles and 40% of his aerial contests.

These statistics show that the 27-year-old lightweight is a liability for Everton in the final third, with his lack of impact on the ball, and out of possession with his weak play in duels, which is why Dyche must finally drop him from the team.