A win for over Manchester United tonight could lift Everton into the top half of the Premier League table and would be their third consecutive victory in the competition for the first time since crowds returned.
However, one of the Blues’ new boys, Dwight McNeil, is determined to secure another three points as a statement of intent from Frank Lampard’s side.
Everton haven’t collected a hat-trick of Premier League wins since their first Merseyside Derby triumph at Anfield for over two decades was followed up with single goal successes against Southampton and West Bromwich Albion, all behind closed doors due to coronavirus restrictions over 18 months ago under Carlo Ancelotti.
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The last time the Red Devils came to Goodison Park on Grand National Day, back on April 9, McNeil – along with James Tarkowski, who he followed to Merseyside over the summer – was still part of a Burnley squad that would have been cursing Everton’s 1-0 victory courtesy of Anthony Gordon’s deflected strike. Less than 72 hours earlier, the Clarets had come from behind to secure a late 3-2 win over Lampard’s men, but a 2-0 reversal at Norwich City the following day would cost long-serving manager Sean Dyche his job.
While McNeil still earned his £20million transfer to the Blues over the summer despite Burnley’s relegation, United have got a couple of wingers in their squad who cost £158million between them in the shape of Jadon Sancho (£73million) and Antony (£85million) but such price tags don’t faze the 22-year-old from Rochdale.
Asked if that gives him any kind of inferiority complex, McNeil said: “No, not really. Every team in the Premier League deserves to be in the Premier League.
“We all have top players, they have good players, so do we. We know the outcome we want.
“We look at who will be playing and try to find their strengths and weaknesses and how we can exploit what they are not so good at. Being at home we want another win for the fans to make it three from three and we want to put another marker down.”
McNeil goes into the game on the back of scoring his first Everton goal – the match-winner in last weekend’s 2-1 comeback victory at Southampton – but he knows that competition for places is fierce with the likes of himself, Demarai Gray and Gordon - the hero against United last time out but coming off the bench at St Mary’s after illness - all vying for a place in the side. He said: “It is a healthy competition between the lads, we all get on with each other.
“It is good to have that because it is a long season. In the last few years I have known I would be playing. Coming here I knew what my role would be and I want to contribute where I can.
“To be fair, when I came here I thought it was a chance to express myself. It is one of the reasons I came.
“It helps that I know some of the lads – Tarky, Ben Godfrey and Tom Davies (from England Under-21s) – and they integrated me into the group. Everyone gets on.
“That helped me massively, it is a good bunch of lads. The manager just said he wanted me to enjoy my football and would look for ways for me to improve my goals and assists and have more impact in games.”
Playing in a defensively-minded Burnley team that ultimately dropped out of the top flight last season, McNeil’s personal statistics came under close scrutiny when Everton signed him given that he failed to score throughout 2021/22 and provided just one assist. However, having ended his scoring drought on the south coast, he now hopes to reap the benefits of playing alongside more-gifted team-mates.
He said: “The first few games were difficult for the team, but we have been unbeaten in the last seven and every day in training we are getting stronger as a group and believing in each other more. Hopefully we can kick on.
“The goal is something to build on. I need to take the opportunities when I get them.
“It is about knowing where to be, timing runs to impact the game and then I can get more goals and assists, it is one of the reasons I came here. I know my stats are low but I am looking to move them forward.
“The main thing was winning. I’d had a lot of shots without scoring and there was a lot of outside noise about scoring and the dry run carrying on, so it helps the confidence massively. But it felt better moving up the league because we are aiming to do a lot better this year.”
Indeed, while he’s not making any specific predictions, after coming to Everton on the back of what was the joint-lowest equivalent points total in the club’s history, McNeil is determined to avoid being involved in another relegation battle this term. He said: “We want to create an atmosphere around the place that will make us stronger and give us a much better season.
“We can definitely do better than last season and see where it takes us. This year we think we’ve got a good team and we believe in ourselves.
“In training we’re coming together a lot more and we just want to kick on and improve and win more games really together for ourselves and the fans, to try and have a better season than last season.”
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