Another solid top eight finish beckons for Everton, according to our predictions.
Where will your side finish in 2012-13? With the season just one week away, our pundits have put our heads together to give you a comprehensive set of predictions.
Opinions and analysis on all 20 Premier League clubs are given here by 12 of our writers and pundits here at HITC Sport. On the basis of the predictions from our ‘daring dozen’ we have calculated how the table will look come next May.
How does it work? All the predictions are totalled together, the team with the lowest score will finish 1st, and the highest will finish 20th. Here are the predictions for your club.
Verdict- Everton will finish in: 8th
Highest prediction: 5th, Lowest prediction: 8th.
Dan Coombs: 8th; For once Everton have had a satisfactory summer, managing to secure top target Steven Pienaar on a permanent deal. Steven Naismith is a bright addition too, and there is no reason to believe the Toffees won’t push the top pack all the way. They need a good start, something they rarely achieve, and an opener against Manchester United gives an opportunity to lay down a marker. The competition though is so tough this coming season and they may slip a place to eighth.
Vic Daniels: 7th; Another decent season, as Moyes confounds the critics again. May be his last season in charge.
Mathew Nash: 8th; Star Player – Steven Pienaar. Top Scorer – Nikica Jelavic. Another solid season for Moyes men who might not have enough quality to challenge those above them but will take the mantle of ‘best of the rest’ once again. Jack Rodwell should hopefully have a breakout season but Nikica Jelavic could become a 20 goal man for Everton in a full season especially with the returning Pienaar creating chances galore for the Croatian. See them challenging for domestic silverware as well.
Tomo Taka: 8th; At one point this summer, when the Tottenham hotseat had opened up, it looked uncertain whether David Moyes would stay at Everton. The manager is to stay and so will Everton’s consistency in top-table finishes. Finishing 7th for the last two seasons, they will finish at around the same position again even with minimal spending. The return of Steven Pienaar (permanently) and addition of Steven Naismith from Rangers will help the squad remain competitive in the Premier League as Moyes continues to do an understated job at Everton. Best player will be Nikica Jelavic. For the first time in years Everton have a potent striker who can be relied upon to score goals. The Croatian scored 9 in 13 last season following his move from Rangers and much like Cissé of Newcastle, should thrive even more in his first full-season. Biggest concern will be replacing Tim Cahill’s goals. The Australian joined New York Red Bulls after 8 years of service to Everton and scored 56 goals in 226 league games from a midfield position during his time at the club. How will they replace his presence at the club as well as his goals?
Jake Lane: 8th; The Toffees will struggle to match last season’s effort of seventh and not because they’ll miss Tim Cahill who has moved to New York Red Bulls – they won’t miss the Australian, not only because he’ll be back on loan in January but because he didn’t do anything for them last year. Everton could be back below their Merseyside rivals in the league because, believe it or not, of their manager. David Moyes was ready to take the Tottenham job as it would have been the right time for him to do so – this obviously wasn’t to be and could leave Moyes with a lack of desire for the new season.
Nigel Owen: 5th; Yet another late run by Everton saw a respectable 7th place finish – 4 points above their Merseyside rivals. David Moyes’ purse strings have always been held tightly, but in Nikica Jelavic he may have found another genuine bargain. Everton have always been difficult to beat under Moyes, but had to rely on goals from all over the team, as the transfer budget never allowed for a proven striker to be brought in. Only the two Manchester clubs conceded less goals than the Toffees last season, and if Jelavic can find anything like the form he showed in the 13 games since heading south from Rangers, then Everton will continue to enjoy the upper hand across Stanley Park.
Surya Solanki: 7th; Everton have done some neat pieces of business by snapping up Steven Naismith and Steven Pienaar and look like a relatively strong team. However, lack of depth in the team could create problems for David Moyes, and for this reason, I don’t see the Toffees doing anything better than their last season finish.
Paul Moore: 5th; David Moyes never ceases to amaze me and with a good start he can get them to a high finish. Watch the young lad Barkley; what a great future. I think in David Moyes Everton have a great Manager and one I’m sure will take over at Manchester United when Fergie decides he’s had enough.
John Aggrey: 7th; They will be seventh because; having lost some influential players and having had to work on a strict budget, Moyes has to contend with life without Cahill who’s off to the MLS. Meanwhile as replacing Cahill will still be in the manager’s head, another issue that will be of great concern is keeping Baines who’s a Man United target unfortunately. Their star man should be; Fellaini, this too depends on the matter of staying or moving away from Everton. Jersey number 25, strong on and off the ball, he has in recent times influenced several Everton results and is expected to do the same next season too. Biggest challenge will be having to have a decent start to the league something that has eluded them for a while now. They seem to find their rhythm late into the season and what a better way to end the season than by finishing above Liverpool?
Naveenan Thanendra: 8th; With a transfer war chest that exists only in his wildest dreams, Moyes has set about another season by looking for any budget deal he can get his hands on. This has meant a return for Steven Pienaar who impressed during his loan spell last season as well as the addition of Steven Naismith who should add more guile to Everton’s midfield following the loss of Tim Cahill to New York Red Bulls. However, we know that Moyes will always have a well organised team that gets stronger as the season goes on. Having said that, in order for Everton to have a good season Jelavic will need to carry on from where he left on last year, otherwise the lack of real intention in the transfer market will mean that 8th is as high as Everton can hope for.
Keval Shah: 8th; The ever committed and loyal David Moyes will find himself in charge of Everton for an eleventh season. The capture of Jelavic was a real find last season, and the club will be hoping he can push on from where he left off. Even with Cahill’s form declining over the past season, he will still be a massive loss for Everton as has been a great servant for the club. Moyes will be hoping new signing Steven Naismith can fill the void left by the fiery Aussie.
Khiam Barry: 8th; David Moyes’ team pride themselves on being hard working and industrious and they’ll be the same again this season. Tim Cahill leaving for America is a shame, but he didn’t feature that much last season so it won’t be a massive loss, but they do lose leadership with his departure. They will look at Jelavic to bang in the goals and hope for a good start, so as not to have to play catch up with the top half of the table come the latter part of the season.
Connor Jipps: 8th; It looked as if Everton’s pre-season would get off to the worst possible start as rumours persisted of the departures of manager David Moyes to Tottenham and Leighton Baines to Manchester United. The achievement of keeping both at the club at this moment in time is a testament to the warmth of the club and the retention of the two could certainly set Everton up for a promising season. Everton are traditionally slow starters and may find it troublesome in their opening fixture against Man Utd but after follows a run of winnable games and Moyes will look to break the poor start hoodoo that has hampered many a seasons progress. Delight will most certainly have been felt amongst Everton fans when it was last week confirmed that Steven Pienaar had rejoined the club on a four year deal having experienced his best playing years at Goodison Park. The club have also taken on former Rangers striker Steven Naismith, a very competent striker who will provide excellent competition to Nikica Jelavic. Sadly the club have lost two of their most loyal stalwarts in Tim Cahill and Joseph Yobo who have moved onto more lucrative offers abroad in America and Turkey respectively. Both players have played key roles in Everton’s progression as a club but their absences shouldn’t be missed too much on the playing field with both playing peripheral roles last season. The club has made fairly minor adjustments to the squad and as a result it’s hard to envisage them finishing higher than last season’s 7th place or lower than 8th. The main challenge for the Toffees will be to once again finish above bitter rivals Liverpool and maintain good cup runs
Full predicted table: (1) Manchester City, (2) Manchester United, (3) Chelsea, (4) Arsenal, (5) Tottenham, (6) Liverpool, (7) Newcastle, (8) Everton, (9) Fulham, (10) Sunderland, (11) Aston Villa, (12) Stoke, (13) QPR, (14) Swansea, (15) West Ham, (16) West Brom, (17) Norwich, (18) Reading, (19) Wigan, (20) Southampton.
Where do you believe Everton will finish next season?
image: © isirya
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