Everton sweat on Jarrad Branthwaite injury as two players will be desperate for return

Everton must hope that the pelvic issue that forced Jarrad Branthwaite to withdraw from the England squad this week is not severe as they hope to keep their most valuable player in the side for the visit of Brentford next Saturday because he not only improves the side with his presence but changes the way his team-mates play.

The 22-year-old caught the eye when recalled to the starting line-up at West Ham United but did Branthwaite's return actually raise the game of the Blues around him? This correspondent believed so and wrote as much in his final whistle analysis from the London Stadium, a piece headlined: “Jarrad Branthwaite claims vindicated as two Everton players see immediate benefit.”

Everton manager Sean Dyche has often used the phrase “your eyes don’t lie” and the numbers crunched from the goalless draw in the East End back up such claims. I wrote how the key to Branthwaite being so highly rated is that he combines his immense physicality as a man mountain at the back with an increasing ability to read the game and a deftness of touch for such a big man and we saw that here in the way he carried the ball out in an assured manner, moving out of defence and into midfield.

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This is borne out by Comparisonator confirming that ‘The Carlisle Kaiser’ made three progressive runs against West Ham United and the average figure for Premier League centre-backs per 90 minutes is just 0.7. Branthwaite was also above par for several key defensive contributions as he made 10 ball recoveries (the Premier League average for players in his position is 7.9); 6 interceptions (4 is the average); 4 clearances (2.1); and 5 picking-ups (1.8), when a player wins a loose ball.

However, as also observed, Branthwaite’s presence helps those alongside him, with Vitalii Mykolenko to his left, and James Tarkowski to his right. Mykolenko, in particular, had been all at sea at Southampton just seven days later and was caught out of position for what proved to be the winning goal for the hosts late on, but against the Hammers he was showing the kind of assurance that made him one of Everton’s most-improved performers last season with Branthwaite’s protection.

The Ukraine international played a far more expansive game as he attempted 50 passes, compared to his average for the season of 27, and this resulted in 38 successful passes opposed to his average of 21. He also put in five crosses, almost twice his average for the season of 2.6.

As well as improving his ball recoveries from a seasonal average of 9.3 to 14 on the day, Tarkowski also put in a more progressive display with 51 passes, up on the average for the season of 34.4. Of these, 46 were successful, compared with the season’s average of 28.8, while there was even a slight increase in interceptions from 6.4 to 8.

All this adds up to show that just by being on the pitch, Branthwaite is not only a defensive colossus but he turns Everton into a whole different beast.

*Comparisonator is a football data comparison tool from 271 professional leagues around the world which compares players and clubs by utilising over 100 different parameters. Click here for more details.