Everton manager Marco Silva has said that the Toffees need to find the defensive resolve from the backend of the previous campaign. The Merseyside giants made a strong end to last season to finish eighth on the table and that was partly down to the defence which kept 13 clean sheets from the final 13 Premier League matches.

The Toffees begun the current season in the same fashion with successive shutouts but the floodgates have since opened with the club conceding seven goals from the past three league games. Speaking in a press conference, Silva acknowledged that the defensive record has become a concern and he is optimistic that the team can retain the same solidity from the second half of the 2018/19 season.

He told: “It’s a concern. It’s not something new for us unfortunately as a football club. Last season we did better than the seasons before but it was not enough. We have to become again that solid team that we were at the second part of last season and the beginning of the season. We had 13 games with 10 clean sheets.”

Silva’s team have accumulated seven points from the opening five games of the campaign but just one of those points have come away from home. That remains another potential concern for Silva to resolve with the team managing just five victories from the previous 19 games on the road. The Toffees are scheduled to face newly-promotedSheffield United in the next league outing at Goodison Park and the game offers them with the perfect opportunity to return to winning ways after the 3-1 defeat at Bournemouth. While the Toffees have the perfect record at home this season, they need to be wary of the threat from Sheffield, who have surprised both Bournemouth and Chelsea with comeback draws away from home.