Everton 3-1 Coventry: the Toffees sit fifth, the Sky Blues 16th with 19 goals conceded

Everton 3, Coventry 1. The scoreline is clear, and so is what it does to the table.

Everton are 5th in the Premier League with 16 points from 10 games. That's 4 wins, 4 draws and 2 defeats, with 12 goals scored and 10 conceded. The record is steady rather than spectacular, and this was a result that fit it.

Coventry are 16th with 9 points from 10. They have won 3 and lost 7, with no draws at all. Their goal record, 10 scored and 19 conceded, shows where the problem is.

Form pointed towards a tight game

Everton arrived with mixed numbers. Across their last 5, league and League Cup combined, they won 2, drew 1 and lost 2, scoring 6 and conceding 7.

The most recent results were good ones. They won 1-0 at Newcastle in the league, then beat the same opponent 3-1 at home in the League Cup. Before that came 2 straight league defeats, 0-2 at Arsenal and 0-2 against Chelsea at home. A 2-2 draw at Hull City completes the run.

Coventry's last 5 were all league games. They won 3 and lost 2, scoring 9 and conceding 6. Their latest result before this one was a 3-1 home win over Sunderland. Before that came a 0-1 home defeat to Fulham and a 1-3 loss at Tottenham. They had also beaten Newcastle 4-1 at home and Nottingham Forest 1-0 away.

On form alone, Coventry were the side with the better attacking numbers: 9 goals in their last 5 against Everton's 6. Everton's answer was to score 3 at home. The 19 goals Coventry have conceded in the table made that outcome less of a surprise.

The head-to-head favoured Coventry, until now

The only previous meeting went the other way: Coventry won 3-0 at home against Everton. This 3-1 is Everton's answer.

The scorers behind the table position

T. Barry has 6 goals and 1 assist for Everton. K. Dewsbury-Hall has 3 goals and 1 assist. Between them that is 9 goals, against Everton's 12 in the league. It shows how much of the attack runs through those two.

What it means

For Everton, the win keeps them in the upper part of the table. They have now won back-to-back games against Newcastle, one in the league and one in the cup, and this adds a third win in their last 4 games across both competitions.

For Coventry, the defensive record is the headline. A team that scored 4 against Newcastle and 3 against Sunderland in recent weeks has still conceded 19 across 10 league games. The attack is producing, but they remain 16th.

What comes next

Everton's next test is whether Barry and Dewsbury-Hall can keep carrying the scoring load. Coventry's is simpler: tighten up at the back before their results settle into a pattern.