By unleashing Everton’s “tremendous” fringe player, Dyche may silence Gordon

By unleashing Everton’s “tremendous” fringe player, Dyche may silence Gordon

Anthony Gordon United Newcastle

These days, Everton is seldom out of the news.

Whether it’s for their incredible double-season survival of Premier League relegation or

their record-breaking number of points being docked for profit and sustainability violations,

the blue half of Merseyside is never far from the news.

However, this season has seen some truly amazing moments from the Toffees compared to

the previous two years.

If not for their ten-point deduction,

they would now be in 13th place and out of the drop zone.

Though they will face a stiff challenge to make it through this season,

Sean Dyche’s team is playing with unity,

thus it would be foolish to wager against them.

But with Newcastle United presenting a formidable opponent tonight evening,

Dyche will need to fortify his defence and find strategies to silence former player Anthony Gordon.

Ashley Young has been trusted to play on the right side of defence in recent weeks,

but the former Burnley manager has to deploy Nathan Patterson to intimidate Gordon and

prevent him from having an impact on the game at his old haunt.

This is because of Young’s high-profile errors against Manchester United and Liverpool.

This year’s stats for Nathan Patterson

Although Young has started at right-back for the majority of the team’s campaign,

Patterson has nevertheless made appearances for the group on a fairly frequent basis.

He has started five of Everton’s 14 league games thus far and has also made seven appearances off the bench.

He may not have as much offensive potential as he would want,

but he has shown himself to be an excellent defender over the past year,

so that will probably be his main focus this week against the Toon.

The “tremendous” Scotsman, as his manager put it on BT Sport,

ranks in the top 6% of full-backs for blocks, the top 9% for tackles, and the top 12% for clearances per 90,

according to FBref, which compares players in Europe’s top five leagues.

Those are the kinds of qualities that could be useful in an attempt to contain the on-form Newcastle player,

and you can be certain that the Goodison faithful will go wild each time he loses possession of the ball or is the victim of a dubious tackle.

Ashley Young must be benched in favour of Nathan Patterson against Newcastle.

First and foremost, Young is still a wonderful football player,

and it is obvious that he has much more to give the Toffees.

However, for all the reasons we have already discussed, he is unable to start against the Toon.

This is made increasingly clearer when you examine the fundamental stats of the two players,

with the £28k-per-week right-back leading the way in nearly all significant defensive metrics.

Nathan Patterson & Ashley Young
Stat	Nathan Patterson	Ashley Young
Non-Penalty Expected Goals + Assists	0.23	0.09
Attempted Passes per 90	53.9	50.3
Pass Completion	72.0%	70.5%
Tackles Won per 90	2.34	1.14
Interceptions per 90	1.04	0.93
Clearances per 90	2.79	2.08
Errors Leading to Goals	0	2
Red Cards	0	1
Penalties Conceded	0	1

Every Stat via FBref for Every Domestic Tournament in 2023–2024

In contrast to Young, who cannot say this after recent performances,

he wins more tackles, makes more interceptions and clearances,

and has made no mistakes that have resulted in a goal.

Young’s disciplinary record this season is also a factor against him;

the former United player has already received four yellow cards;

one more before matchweek 19 would result in a game suspension.

In the end, Young’s recent showings against the league’s top clubs ought to be sufficient proof that

the “brilliant” Patterson—as former Leeds United striker Noel Whelan put it—

deserves to start at right back on Thursday.

A move like this might guarantee that the previously mentioned Gordon faces a difficult evening.

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