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Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has had an interesting start to the new season for Everton, but emerging data should have him asking questions of his teammates.
The midfielder has started every Premier League game so far for Everton and been on the scoresheet twice. He scored in the opening game against Crystal Palace, and then against Hull City earlier this month.
Arguably, we are still yet to see Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall reach his best level and show the form he did around this time last season.
He was influential in every game for the Toffees, but so far this term he has drawn some criticism from supporters.
But there is actually a surprisingly good statistic about Dewsbury-Hall, who can be forgiven for being slightly frustrated with his own teammates.
TalkingPoints
What's your thoughts on Thierno Barry at the moment? 10 big chances missed in the PL, but six goals across all competitions. It's fair to say he divides opinion at Everton, but Dewsbury-Hall is a fan…👀
Fotmob data reveals that Dewsbury-Hall is actually one of the best creators in the Premier League after seven rounds of fixtures.
He has created 17 chances so far, which means he ranks joint-third out of all players in the league along with Morgan Gibbs-White. Gibbs-White is technically third on his own due to having a slightly higher chances created per 90 than Dewsbury-Hall (2.8 vs 2.4).
The only players ahead of him in terms of actual number of chances created are Pascal Gross (19) and Florian Wirtz (20).
It’s interesting, because Dewsbury-Hall has undoubtedly come in for a fair bit of stick so far this season. Some have even called for him to be dropped in favour of someone like Charly Alcaraz or Hayden Hackney. Jack Grealish and Harrison Armstrong have been suggested by some as alternatives for the number 10 position.
But only two players in the whole Premier League have created more chances than Dewsbury-Hall. Given he has only made one assist, though, he has every right to be asking questions of his teammates. That means 16 of the chances he’s laid on have gone begging.
| Premier League’s top 10 creators (by volume) so far |
| Florian Wirtz – 20 |
| Pascal Gross – 19 |
| Morgan Gibbs-White – 17 |
| Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – 17 |
| Alex Iwobi -16 |
| James McAtee – 16 |
| Bruno Fernandes – 16 |
| Maxim De Cuyper – 15 |
| Cole Palmer – 15 |
| Granit Xhaka – 15 |
As most people know, Thierno Barry has been particularly wasteful this season, squandering 11 big chances in the Premier League. That said, the Frenchman has scored three goals in the competition.
Aside from this, Dewsbury-Hall is also getting through a lot of physical work. He ranks third in the Everton squad for number of sprints made, has run the second-furthest after Harrison Armstrong, and is top for possessions won in the final third.
He actually places at least third in a lot of the attacking metrics on Fotmob, suggesting that his critics have perhaps been overly harsh on him.
Certainly, he has another couple of gears to find, but he is clearly still a vitally important player to this side.