Everton are a club with an ambitious owner. With millions spent on players and a new ground on its way, they dream of stepping out of the shadows of neighbours Liverpool - but that's far from the case this season. Could they end a 65-year stay in the top league and be relegated to the Championship?
It's a worrying time for the Blues, who are currently just one place and three points above the bottom three. Topping Liverpool looks a pipe dream when you are 20 points behind them after just 11 league games.
High hopes at Goodison and beyond
Only once in the past six seasons have Everton managed to reach 60 points - that was in 2016-17 when finishing seventh. Their chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale has set high targets for the club when they move to their new £500m stadium. "It means challenging for domestic titles and trophies. Not only to win cups but to win Premier League titles, too."
During the summer, it seemed that every transfer story had Everton mentioned somewhere. Boss Marco Silva just kept on signing players, and it looked as if he was building an impressive and young squad. He didn't manage to get all his targets though, and neither Wilfried Zaha nor Kurt Zouma made their way to Goodison Park.
Another slow start
Everton tend to start slowly and spend the rest of the season playing catch-up. Recent seasons have seen problems with too many signings not fitting in and an interfering Europa League campaign.
It's the same old story this season. The new signings have added little to the squad so far; Moise Kean is yet to score a goal, and Alex Iwobi hasn't hit the back of the net for over two months. Now their injury list is piling up, with Andre Gomes the latest casualty following his horrific ankle break against Tottenham.
Standing on the dreaded trapdoor
The last time Everton went down was in 1951 and since 1888 they have only missed four seasons in the top flight. The thought of them being in the Championship when that stadium is ready isn't on their agenda but Everton are in trouble, and if results don't improve soon, Marco Silva will surely be on his way out of Goodison Park. The current relegation odds of 12/1 indicate the problems Everton have.
They may well be saved by the quality of the current bottom three rather than their abilities. Watford haven't won a league game (and lost twice this season to Everton) and are 5/9 to go down, while Norwich City and Southampton concede far too many goals. The Canaries are 2/7 to fall back to the Championship while the Saints look a little safer at 7/4.
Problem after problem
Everton have several problems, and some have been around for some time. Scoring goals is one of them, with only 11 in as many league games. They have only scored more than once in three league matches this season and only two of those were won.
Home form had been impressive with six straight wins, but even that's slumped in recent weeks. Just one league win in the last four and that was against an out-of-form West Ham United.
Away-day blues
Piling up the points at Goodison is vital because their poor away form is nothing to write home about. Everton have lost their last four, but perhaps more worrying is who beat them - Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Burnley and Brighton & Hove Albion. That means they still must travel to all the top teams. How many points will that produce?
Everton have won just three of their last 15 away Premier League matches. Two of those were at Huddersfield Town and Cardiff City, both of whom were relegated last season. Manager after manager has failed to cure their away-day blues.
Key period coming up
It may take another managerial change to kick-start Everton's season. The chances are if they weren't in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, Silva might have gone by now. Making so many signings is always a risky business, and it's just not paid off yet.
Everton are in trouble, that cannot be denied. November sees them travel to Southampton and host Norwich City. Then it's four games against sides currently in the top five and Manchester United away. Where Everton are at Christmas may not be a pretty sight. body check tags ::
