The Blues are currently second in the table after the first five games of the season.
If history is anything to go by, Everton manager Ronald Koeman is wise to quash talk of a title challenge at Goodison Park so soon into his tenure.
The Blues are currently sitting in second place in the table after five games, their best start to a season since 1978.
Talk is already rife about a potential title challenge as a result, with some suggesting that they could be this season’s Leicester City.
The Dutchman moved to dampen those suggestions in his pre-match press conference on Monday, though, saying, “the big teams have much more quality. If they don’t disappoint like last year, it will be impossible.”
And history shows he is right to suggest it is too early for his side to be discussing the title.
Since the Premier League began, only seven teams have gone on to win the title after leading the table at this stage of the season.
Only once, in the 1999/2000 and 2000/2001 seasons did it happen in back-to-back campaigns.
Of course, Everton are not top but it shows that the standings at this early stage of the campaign often bear little impact on the final outcome of the title race.
That makes Koeman’s move to dampen any dreams a smart one at this stage of the season.
If Everton continue to perform as they have, though, there will be no stopping those suggestions despite his best efforts.
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