There was delight for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) owners of James Tarkowski (£5.7m) and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£5.1m), as both scored in a comfortable home win that has Everton dreaming of European football.
Here are our Scout Notes from the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
GARNER + DEWSBURY-HALL
FPL notes: Tarkowski + Dewsbury-Hall joy, as Garner delivers again 1
The Toffees’ first home victory in almost three months was largely because of two cheap FPL midfielders.
As predicted by ‘Assists Imminent’, James Garner (£5.2m) set up a goal for the second time in a row. Both matches ended with defensive contribution (DefCon) rewards too, securing these in 11 of his last 14 outings. That’s almost at the level of notorious Nottingham Forest collector Elliot Anderson (£5.4m).
Furthermore, Garner’s season-long rate of 5.5 crosses per 90 minutes has helped him create 10 big chances.
FPL notes: Tarkowski + Dewsbury-Hall joy, as Garner delivers again 2
Before Wednesday’s action, this is only bettered by Bruno Fernandes (£10.0m), Rayan Cherki (£6.4m), Declan Rice (£7.5m) and Pedro Neto (£7.0m). He’s also the league’s number one corner taker (83) and number two free kick crosser (27).
It means Garner is currently the highest-scoring midfielder under £5.5m. However, some will still prefer teammate Dewsbury-Hall, having seen him put Everton two ahead after being slid through by Iliman Ndiaye (£6.2m), making the most of good play by the superb Dwight McNeil (£5.5m).
“Dwight’s [McNeil] performance at Newcastle was very good. He built on that and took that into tonight’s game, and we’re seeing a much-improved Ili [Ndiaye] and Gana after they come back from the Africa Cup of Nations.
“And also Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall improving greatly because he’s just beginning to get back to where he was before the hamstring injury. I think getting those players back on form is helping us play better and helping us get a bit better rhythm.” – David Moyes
The 27-year-old racked up five shots on the night, following a weekend assist against Newcastle United.
In his last 11 appearances that exceeded 45 minutes, five brought in nine or more points.
FPL notes: Tarkowski + Dewsbury-Hall joy, as Garner delivers again 3
OR TIME TO SELL EVERTON ASSETS?
Then again, some were probably thinking of selling Everton players like these, Tarkowski and Jordan Pickford (£5.6m), as Arsenal and Chelsea are up next. Though their precious Blank Gameweek 31 participation should be appreciated.
Garner’s central free-kick allowed Tarkowski to head home his first goal of 2025/26. It ensured a 15-pointer for the centre-back, although his former club nearly busted another clean sheet right at the death, having done so versus Chelsea, Bournemouth and Newcastle in recent months.
This time, Lyle Foster‘s (£4.9m) close-range flick was denied by Pickford. So the Toffees secured their first shutout since Gameweek 22, following six in nine between Gameweeks 11 and 19.
FPL notes: Tarkowski + Dewsbury-Hall joy, as Garner delivers again
Above: Statsbomb showing the late big chance for Lyle Foster
NO FLEMMING
Meanwhile, Burnley forward Zian Flemming (£5.3m) wasn’t in the squad at all, despite scoring in the Clarets’ previous two matches.
Head coach Scott Parker said he “picked up a slight calf injury on Saturday.”
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