Everton 1-1 Huddersfield Town: Player ratings – Billing receives the top score

Huddersfield Town fought hard at Goodison Park and made life difficult for Everton, earning a respectable point against a team that probably expected an easy win. This was a huge improvement on recent performances and showed a return of the “Terrier Spirit” that we’ve all been missing.

It was a bad day at the office for Everton, but part of that was down to Town not letting them play. This was the best performance from Town I’ve seen this season and fully deserved a point.

Here’s what I thought of Town’s individual players today…

Jonas Lössl – 6 out of 10

Everton only managed one shot on target all game, so it was a surprisingly quiet afternoon for the Danish keeper. It was a pretty solid return to the starting lineup for Lössl, with some good distribution to start counter-attacks. I wouldn’t say Lössl was at fault for the goal, but he may be disappointed he didn’t get a hand to it.

Chris Löwe – 7 out of 10

I feel a bit sorry for Löwe when he’s paired with VLP on the left, as he regularly goes on lung-busting runs which van La Parra completely ignores, in favour of pursuing an attempt to take on every player on the pitch instead. Löwe kept running anyway, and put in a decent performance.

Terence Kongolo – 8 out of 10

Another impressive display from Kongolo, he looked assured on the ball and never looked concerned by Everton’s attacks. He made seven interceptions during the game, three more than any other player on the pitch, which shows how well he reads the games and wins back possession for Town.

Christopher Schindler – 7 out 10

This wasn’t a standout performance from the big German but after a few shaky performances so far this season it was a return to normal service. He was strong in the air all game, and made some great headed clearances to relieve pressure on the back line.

Zanka – 7 out of 10

This looked like a tough afternoon for Zanka, as he was regularly getting tangled up with opposition players and had to commit himself to tackles. It wasn’t exactly composed but it was effective and he always managed to (just) get the better of the players he was up against. The one exception was defending the cross for the goal, where he could have been tighter to Calvert-Lewin.

Florent Hadergjonaj – 7 out of 10

This was another return to form from a player that hasn’t covered himself in glory in recent games. He motored up and down the right flank and showed glimpses of a partnership developing with him and Diakhaby. His crossing looked better too, with a couple of early crosses whipped into the box looking threatening despite not leading to chances.

Aaron Mooy – 7 out of 10

Unusually, Mooy didn’t star in the middle of the park, instead playing second fiddle to Billing. However, he was a dependable presence and he showed good vision with passing. His pass completion rate of 88% shows how accurate he was, and how he consistently found a Town player when he moved the ball.

Philip Billing – 9 out of 10

There have been some promising signs from Billing so far this season, but he really blossomed in this game. He did well to score his first Premier League goal by heading home a loose ball that fell kindly to him. There were other parts of his game that were impressive too, with long throws causing Everton problems, a solid defensive display, and some great runs forward with and without the ball.

Adama Diakhaby – 6 out of 10

Not a classic performance from Diakhaby, but he did OK and was clearly trying hard for the team. He’s still getting used to his role within the team, but the other side is that his teammates are still getting used to him too. I think our players aren’t feeding him the kind of ball that makes the most of his pace, which his limiting his chances to get in behind opposition defences.

Rajiv van La Parra – 8 out of 10

A great performance from VLP, he ran his socks off and brought the ball forward well. He regularly received the ball deep in midfield and drove forward with the ball at his feet. As ever, he could have passed instead of dribbling on several occasions, but he wouldn’t be the same player without that greedy streak.

Steve Mounié – 8 out of 10

When the team was announced I was expecting Mounié to be an isolated figure, but there was support available to him when we had possession and he did a good job of linking up play and involving the wingers in the game. He was also colossal in the air, winning 13 aerial duels over the course of the game.

Substitutes

Elias Kachunga – 6 out of 10

It was great to see Kachunga back on the pitch for Town and he did a good job defensively while he was on the pitch. Going forward he was tidy but not all that impactful. There was one quite telling attack where he had the chance to try and break forward, but his lack of pace meant he instead decided to turn inside and play a backwards pass. I could be wrong, but his shortage of speed and trickery makes him less effective out wide, so he may be more useful played as a secondary striker instead.

Erik Durm – 7 out of 10

It was only a fairly brief appearance, but he looked impressive. He made his tackles stick and was willing to bomb forward when the chance was there. While he’s played most of his career as a left-back, it’s possible that he may compete for the right-back slot too. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was starting in the Premier League after the international break.

Lauren Depoitre – N/A

A late, time-wasting substitution, so not really possible to ofer much of an opinion.