Could Everton be this season’s Leicester City?

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Having started the season with four wins and a draw, could Everton be this season’s Leicester City and mount a title challenge?

With Everton starting the Premier League season with one draw and four consecutive wins, comparisons are being drawn with Leicester City from last season, and with good reason.

The start under new manager Ronald Koeman has seen the Toffees score ten goals and only concede three, and currently they lie second in the Premier League with only Manchester City bettering their current points tally.

Everton under Koeman have taken people by surprise, just as Leicester did last season under Claudio Ranieri, and while they look to be reliant on the goals of Romelu Lukaku, goals have also come from throughout the side with Seamus Coleman, Ross Barkley and Gareth Barry getting in on the act.

Leicester’s start to the 2015-16 campaign was what their whole season was built around and they ultimately lost only four times on their way to becoming Premier League champions.

Everton’s start to the current season suggests a repeat could well be on the cards. The Toffees are better off after five games than the Foxes were last term. Ranieri’s side won three games and drew two from their opening five games, whereas Everton have only drawn one, against Tottenham Hotspur, and won their other four fixtures.

But while the start they have made under Koeman has been impressive, it is form they will have to continue as the season progresses, particularly as injuries and suspensions take their toll on his squad and its depth.

Over the summer, since the Dutchman’s arrival, Everton made a number of key signings that have put them in a position to challenge not just for European football, but for what is now looking like a push to be the surprise package of the season.

Koeman has added steel to the midfield with the addition of Idrissa Gueye, defensive stability with Ashley Williams at the back after the loss of John Stones to Manchester City, and added creativity in the wide areas with Yannick Bolasie joining from Crystal Palace.

While the additions could prove to be key to Koeman’s season in what could ultimately be a challenge for the Premier League title, keeping hold of striker Lukaku may be the largest factor in where Everton’s title credentials lie.

Lukaku has scored four goals in four games under Koeman, and has been key to lifting Everton up the table, particularly after his 11-minute hat-trick against Sunderland.

But it is not just his goals that have given supporters reason to feel that things are on the rise at Goodison Park, with goals coming from throughout the side.

Unlike last season, where under Roberto Martinez Everton looked suspect in their defending and creativity, the Everton we have seen so far this season are thriving defensively and look capable of scoring goals, particularly goals in quick succession, as was proved when beating Sunderland 3-0 and then against Middlesbrough.

With games against Bournemouth and Crystal Palace, the real test of whether they can mount any kind of title charge will arguably be on 15th October when they visit the Etihad to face Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side.