Everton supporters are the most pessimistic in the entire Premier League this season.
The Toffees have barely spent a penny in the transfer window, have limited finances and have lost Carlo Ancelotti.
Consequently, you can hardly blame the fans for feeling a lack of hope ahead of the opening day.
On the chalkboard
Rafa Benitez’s team face a team with their own problems on the opening weekend of the top-flight season.
They take on Southampton, who have sold Danny Ings and Jannik Vestergaard. Widely tipped for relegation, this is the ideal opposition for the Merseyside outfit to face.
However, with Everton's issues in mind, it won’t be as straightforward as you may think.
They were demolished 4-0 at the hands of Manchester United during their final pre-season friendly, a game which has set a rather terrible tone ahead of the new campaign, and one player who was torn apart by some supporters during the match was Alex Iwobi.
The Nigerian signed in a deal worth £34m back in 2019 but he is yet to justify that price tag. He has scored just four times and has rarely offered any sign of attacking intent.
Consequently, with new signings Demarai Gray and Andros Townsend keen to make an early impact at Goodison Park, Iwobi should be axed from the starting XI this weekend.
Against United last week, just 41% of the actions carried out by the winger in the clash were successful according to Wyscout. He completed just 83% of his passes while failing to provide an accurate shot at goal or complete a cross.
Furthermore, he was successful with just one of his three dribbles and lost a whopping 74% of his ground duels, winning only five of 19.
This was a poor performance from a player who has previously been described as “embarrassing” by the Liverpool Echo’s David Prentice.
With a tally of just two goals to his name in 2020/21, it’s highly unlikely that he’d pose much of a threat this weekend.
Iwobi has been linked with a move away from Merseyside this summer so, Benitez must take the opportunity to axe the £100k-per-week earner from his plans. He simply isn’t good enough.