EVERTON are one of three teams yet to lose a Premier League game this season.
The Toffees came from behind to lead 2-1 away to Hull on Sunday only for Mohamed Belloumi (£3.2m) to rescue a point for the hosts in an action-packed second half at the MKM Stadium.
From a Dream Team perspective, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£3.8m) and Thierno Barry (£2.8m) once again caught the eye.
The pair combined for 27 points when all was said and done — both are the second-best performers in their respective positions this Gameweek (at the time of writing).
Dewsbury-Hall equalised with a simple back-post header and then registered an assist when he won a duel with Semi Ajayi (£1.9m) to put the ball into the path of an onrushing Barry for a one-on-one situation converted by the French striker.
Everton’s playmaker made two big chances, two tackles and fell one PPM short of three bonus points at the end of another impressive all-round performance that earned him 16 points.
Only Jordan Henderson (£2.5m), who scored twice and provided an assist during Chelsea’s 5-1 win, outperformed Dewsbury-Hall over the weekend.
As for Barry, an 11-point haul continues his bright start to the campaign but he will feel he should have secured three points for his side.
He missed four big chances (as defined by Opta) including a tap-in opportunity that slipped thorugh his legs as he struggled to sort his feet out.
Barry has now missed 10 big chances in the league this season, twice as many as anybody else.
This level of inefficiency is a concern but his return of six goals from eight games in all competitions is a huge positive.
David Moyes will want his striker to improve his finishing but he will be very happy with Barry’s movement, positioning and anticipation, which have all contributed to the number of big chances Everton have generated.
Barry has raced to 70 points in Dream Team, a total only bettered by Erling Haaland (£8.8m).
Similarly, Manchester City’s No9 is the only player who has scored more goals than the Toffees’ No11.
MOST POINTS AMONG DREAM TEAM STRIKERS THIS SEASON
- 77 pts – Erling Haaland
- 70 pts – Thierno Barry
- 57 pts – Joao Pedro
- 54 pts – Jorgen Strand Larsen
- 49 pts – Charalampos Kostoulas
Dewsbury-Hall ranks fifth among midfielders with 61 points, within touching distance of Rayan Cherki (£5.4m), Morgan Rogers (£5.6m) and Pascal Gross (£4m).
Clearly, the Everton pair have been hugely successful Dream Team assets to this point.
However, the next few days will show why Dewsbury-Hall and Barry are not as viable as their form suggests.
Nine teams are scheduled to play in Europe across Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday — these additional fixtures will result in more points for the likes of Haaland, Gross, Cherki, etc.
At present, Barry (third) and Dewsbury-Hall (eighth) are among the top performers in the game but will that still be the case at the end of Gameweek 9, after three rounds of European league stage fixtures?
Chelsea, Newcastle and Leeds are the other teams with highly-ranked assets who are likely to suffer without regular midweek commitments.