Sean Dyche is hoping Everton can find their clinical edge upon their return to Premier League action having been dumped out of the Carabao Cup in midweek by Southampton.
Everton were beaten on penalties by the Saints on Tuesday after seeing Abdoulaye Doucoure’s goal cancelled out by Taylor Harwood-Bellis.
The Toffees ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.54 compared to Southampton’s 0.53, but could only manage four shots on target, the same as their opponents.
Taking opportunities in front of goal has been a persistent problem for Everton this season, with Dyche acknowledging his side must improve when they travel to face Leicester this weekend.
“Yet again we’ve created golden chances, and you’ve got to score those chances and that changes the whole game,” Dyche said.
“There’s been times we’ve scored goals and looked like we can score goals, but you’ve got to kill games off. If you’re not keeping clean sheets, you have to kill games off and we’ve not done that.
“That’s a nemesis for us. It’s been here a long time, and we’ve tried to correct it and tried to find those moments, but that’s the hardest bit as a manager.
“We’ve got in some amazing positions again tonight, with one on ones, but we haven’t scored a second goal. Obviously, the work continues.”
Leicester, meanwhile, had to settle for a point in their controversial 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace last time out as Jean-Philippe Mateta’s penalty shared the spoils at Selhurst Park.
Foxes head coach Steve Cooper was left wanting answers from decision-makers at the Premier League following the award of Palace’s first goal, having seen it initially ruled out for offside, only for VAR to overturn the decision.
However, Cooper insisted he was pleased with his side’s display against the Eagles, saying his players must keep going in their quest to get their first three points on the board.
“There was so much good in the performance, particularly in the first half, but I'm not going to shout that from the rooftops because of obviously how we're feeling about the results,” Cooper said.
“We come up against a team who have invested over a number of years and put a team together and been in the Premier League for a long while.
“It's a pity that we conceded the goals in the way that we have because I don't think that really typified the mentality that we showed, but we have to own it, and we have to keep going. We have to stick together, be positive, and that's what we'll do.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Leicester – Wilfried Ndidi
Ndidi has assisted three goals in his last two Premier League appearances for Leicester, as many as he had in his previous 62 games combined in the top-flight.
He is only the second Foxes player to assist three goals in their opening four Premier League games in a season, along with Marc Albrighton in their title-winning campaign of 2015-16.
Everton – Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Calvert-Lewin has scored in 14 Premier League defeats for Everton, including in his last two games against Bournemouth and Aston Villa.
That’s the most games scored in and lost for the Toffees in the competition, one ahead of Duncan Ferguson who lost 13 times when scoring for Everton.
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
Both sides head into the encounter at the King Power Stadium in search of their first three points of the season, but Leicester have struggled against the Toffees of late.
The Foxes have won just one of their last seven Premier League meetings with Everton (D3 L3), a 2-0 away win in November 2022.
And for only a fourth time, Leicester have failed to win any of their first four Premier League games in a season (D2 L2) – in all three previous seasons in which they’ve won none of their first four, they were relegated, in 1994-95, 2003-04 and 2022-23.
However, Everton failed to win any of their first five league games in both 2022-23 (D3 L2) and 2023-24 (D1 L4). In Premier League history, the only team to fail to win any of their opening five games in three consecutive seasons is Sunderland, who did so in four in a row between 2013-14 and 2016-17.
Dyche’s side have been 2-0 up in each of their last two Premier League matches but gone on to lose both 3-2 against Bournemouth and Aston Villa, becoming just the second team in Premier League history to lose consecutive games from 2+ goals ahead, after the Cherries in November 2022. No team has ever failed to win in three games in a row when leading by two or more goals.
But 16 of the 34 Premier League meetings between Leicester and Everton have been drawn, the highest percentage for any fixture to have been played 30+ times in the competition (47%).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Leicester – 38.5%
Draw – 26.3%
Everton – 35.2%
Montego Bay United continue decent start to JPL season with 1-0 win over Arnett Gardens
Montego Bay United continued their promising start to the Wray and Nephew Jamaica Premier League (JPL) season with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Arnett Gardens in an entertaining encounter at the Montego Bay Stadium in Catherine Hall on Monday.
Captain Owayne Gordon was the hero of the night, scoring the decisive goal in the 40th minute to secure all three points for Rodolfo Zapata’s side. The win, their third of the campaign, moved Montego Bay United up to second on nine points, one point off leaders Cavalier on 10 points, while Arnett Gardens slipped to seventh on four points.
Zapata was visibly pleased with his team’s performance, lauding the effort and determination shown by the players throughout the match.
“I knew it was going to be a very exciting game; it was very interesting from a tactical aspect, and tactics are very important, but if you don’t have the technique, it won’t work. So I am very proud of my boys and the performance they put in," the Argentine tactician said.
“They (Arnett Gardens) are a good team so I have different tactical systems that I work with in games like these. We started with 3-3-3-1, and during the game I had to change, but my players responded to my coaching, and I am so proud of them, especially of that high-class finish,” he added.
It was a lively start by teams as they showed good attacking intent in end-to-end action, much to the delight of the sizeable crowd.
Both threw their weight in attack and tested their respective goalkeeper’s readiness in a few half chances in the opening half-hour.
However, Montego Bay United, led by Gordon, gradually gained the ascendancy, as they were more enterprising in the attacking third, stretching Arnett Gardens defence, which was slow to regroup.
The all-important goal by Gordon, his 77th in an outstanding JPL career, was the culmination of a well-executed build up that showcased Montego Bay United’s swift and effective transition play.
Gordon collected a pass on the break down the left channel and held his composure to delicately finish over the head of Asher Hutchinson in goal for Arnett Gardens to put Montego Bay United up at the break.
Montego Bay United remained in control at the restart and should have extended the lead on two occasions, but faulty execution proved their undoing.
The first came in the 48th when Gordon whipped in a weighted cross, but Lucas Lima Correa couldn't connect properly to get his header on target.
Nine minutes later, Tyrone Harrison danced his way through two defenders and fired on a cross for Shaneil Thomas, who steered the effort wide of the left upright.
As the chances came far and few in between, Arnett Gardens had their best look at goal in 69th when Warner Brown found himself with space and time to set for a left-footed effort from deep inside the 18-yard box. However, the usually clinical attacker hit his shot wide of the right upright, and that effort basically summed up the “Junglists” night.
Head coach Xavier Gilbert acknowledged that they were found wanting for the most parts.
“To be honest, Mobay was committed. I don’t think we were committed as much, especially in the first half, and it is something that we spoke about because we can’t give away the ball and don’t have that urgency to win it back immediately. It has been haunting us for the last four or five games, but we are still trying to fix it.
“It is still a long season and we just have to be better at keeping the ball. Also, the end product just wasn’t there and it is just one of those games. I said it to Kimani [Arbouine] because he has been doing well but tonight just wasn’t his night,” Gilbert reasoned.
Matchweek Four Results
Molynes United 4, Chapelton Maroons 0
Humble Lion 1, Harbour View 1
Portmore United 2, Vere United 0
Tivoli Gardens 0, Waterhouse 1
Cavalier 4, Dunbeholden 1
Mount Pleasant 4, Racing United 0
Montego Bay United 1, Arnett Gardens 0
Former Barcelona and Spain midfielder Iniesta announces retirement
Former Barcelona and Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta has announced his retirement from football at the age of 40.
Iniesta, who also played for Japanese side Vissel Kobe, most recently played for UAE Pro League club Emirates and had the option to extend his contract until 2025, but has instead decided to hang up his boots.
The midfielder started his career at Barcelona, joining at the age of 12 before making his senior debut in 2002.
He went on to make 674 appearances for Barcelona in all competitions, the fourth-most in the history of the club, behind Lionel Messi (778), Xavi (767) and Sergio Busquets (722).
"Please allow me to be a little emotional today..." a tearful Iniesta said at a press conference on Tuesday.
"I never thought this day would come. I never imagined it. Yes, all these tears we have shed these days are tears of emotion, of pride. They are not tears of sadness.
"They are tears of that boy from a small town like Fuentealbilla, who had the dream of being a footballer and we achieved it after a lot of hard work, sacrifice... of never giving up, essential values in my life. I feel very proud of this path, with all the people who have accompanied me."
Iniesta scored 35 goals in 442 LaLiga appearances, with Barcelona unbeaten in the 35 league games in which he scored (W33 D2). Only Angel Correa (58 games) has scored in more games without losing in the competition in the 21st century.
While at Barcelona, he won 29 major honours, including nine LaLiga titles, four Champions League, two UEFA Super Cups and three FIFA Club World Cups.
Iniesta also made 131 appearances for Spain, the fifth-most in the history of the male national team, and famously scored the winning goal in the 2010 World Cup final as La Roja lifted the trophy for the first time.
His strike in the 116th minute against the Netherlands (115:54 exactly) is the latest winning goal in the showpiece match in the history of the tournament.
He was also a part of Spain's European Championship successes in 2008 and 2012, being named the Player of the Tournament at the latter edition.
Despite playing an integral role in those tournaments, Iniesta failed to score with any of the 34 shots he attempted in his three appearances at the Euros finals (2008, 2012, 2016), a record number of attempts without scoring by any player at the tournament since at least the 1980 edition.
Bonmati refuses to rule out WSL move but open to retiring at Barcelona
Aitana Bonmati has refused to rule out a move to the Women's Super League in the future, though she is also open to the prospect of ending her career at Barcelona.
Bonmati, who won the Ballon d'Or last year after helping Spain become world champions for the first time, recently put pen to paper on a new four-year contract with Barca.
She has been with the club since 2012, winning 23 trophies with the senior side to sit eighth in the all-time ranking for most titles with the Catalan giants.
Bonmati, who is Barcelona's all-time leading scorer, has won the Champions League on three occasions, netting in last season's final victory over Lyon.
In an interview with Sky Sports, Bonmati was asked if she could foresee a scenario in which she never leaves Barca, and she is open to the idea.
"Yes, that would be nice to be a one-club player," the creative midfielder said.
"For now, I've been playing for Barcelona since I was 13 years old. It would be nice if I could end my career like this… but you never know.
"I'd never close the door. You never know what might happen in the future. But for now, I'm here for four more years, so I want to enjoy."
If Bonmati were to leave Spain, a number of WSL clubs – including Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal – would likely be in the hunt for her signature.
Bonmati appreciates the growing strength of the WSL, saying the investment in women's football in England compares favourably with that seen in Spain.
"It's a league that is so nice because England are investing a lot in women's football since the Euros – I cannot say the same about here in Spain," she said.
"Of course, it's a league that we have to keep watching, to be like them for helping women's football grow."
Barcelona open their Women's Champions League campaign against City on Wednesday, having been drawn into Group D alongside Hammarby and St Polten.
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