Can ice-cool Gylfi Sigurdsson help Everton to ease those Goodison Park jitters?

GW5 was a bit of a kick in the teeth. Having played our wildcard during the international break, we failed to build on the momentum from the previous round as injuries hit, testing the limits of our squad to the full.

Mesut Özil and Ben Davies both failed to feature, while Dušan Tadić continued to frustrate despite some strong underlying stats.

Bearing in mind that the Saints’ schemer only came on for the 2nd half in GW4, there is a temptation to take him out but Southampton’s upcoming fixtures following this weekend’s encounter with Manchester United are just too good to ignore.

Davies is expected to start for Spurs at West Ham but even though Özil is back in training, he could miss out on a starting spot against West Brom in the Monday Night Football.

There is clearly a temptation to take him out.

Everton need to kick-start their season, sooner rather than later and they will be relieved to finally be presented with a softer fixture, after facing 4 of the Big 6 in the opening 5 game rounds.

For a player that was regarded as a ‘must-have’ Fantasy Premier League asset last season, Gylfi Sigurdsson is something of a forgotten man. The Icelandic international has slowly been easing himself back up to full fitness, following his ongoing transfer saga in the summer and he will be looking to make the most of the Toffees’ easier schedule.

Sigurdsson was Swansea City’s standout performer last season, recording a WhoScored rating of 7.25 and his price has risen accordingly but Everton did score almost 38% more goals than the Swans, so there is scope for even better returns this time around.

Ditching Özil is a big call, so we’re going to double up on Arsenal coverage by bringing in Hector Bellerin. Arsene Wenger finally seems to have found the right wing-backs for his 3-4-3 system but God knows why it took him so long! Alfie Mawson makes way.

 

Romelu Lukaku is handed the captain’s armband yet again. – he delivered the goods in GW5, earning himself a well-earned Carabao Cup rest in the process.

Can Sigurdsson show the Goodison Park faithful what he is capable of or will Özil come back to haunt us by defying his ever-increasing band of critics?