An Everton Fan’s Christmas Wish ListMore clean sheets – This Saturday’s performance by Jordan Pickford and the Everton backline was a massive step in the right direction. However, Everton still needs to prove that it can defend with regularity if it wants to compete for a European spot in 2021. Pickford has been improving in recent fixtures, so hopefully, he can recapture his 2018 form and continue limiting his mistakes. If the Blues can stay solid defensively, the results will come.

Goals from players other than Dominic Calvert-Lewin – DCL has been tremendous this season, improving on seemingly every aspect of his game since last season. With that being said, the Toffees cannot rely on DCL to carry them for the remainder of the season. Players such as Richarlison, James, Abdoulaye Doucouré, and Alex Iwobi could take the weight off of DCL if they can start to produce goals. Scoring from other players would open up more space for DCL, which will result in more goals.

Formation stability – With the current injury state of the squad, this may be wishful thinking. Whether it is a 4-3-3 or a 3-4-3, seeing the same formation week in and week out would be good to see. Until Carlo Ancelotti has the squad back at full strength, it is unlikely there will be consistency in what formation the starting 11 will be deployed in for the Blues.

January window work – This could go without saying, but the sooner that Ancelotti brings in the players that he wants, the better. The Blues have been linked with some world-class talent in the past few weeks including Isco, Samuel Umtiti, Sami Khedira and Leon Bailey. Although signing any of the four players listed previously would be a boost to Everton’s first team, the Blues would really benefit from bringing in backup players in January.

Midfield consistency – With the high profile signings of Allan and Doucouré, it is safe to say that most fans thought that our midfield problems were over. Most of us were wrong. Although there has been a significant improvement over the Blues’ midfield since last season, there is still some lack of consistency from two of our three players in the center of the park. Allan has been brilliant game after game. Doucouré has shown flashes of why Everton paid 22.2 million euros for him in the summer, but he can be loose in possession of the ball. If Everton wants to continue the push for European competition next season, the midfield needs to find its groove