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Everton have endured somewhat of a melancholy season so far. Standout victories over the likes of Wolves and West ham have been quickly followed by subpar performances, particularly away from home, with defeats coming against the likes of Bournemouth and Brighton.

Although just ten league games into the new season, the Blues inconsistent form has forced Marco Silva to experiment with his starting line-up in an attempt to formulate a run of form that can steer them towards the top half of the Premier League table.

As a result, plenty of perceived first-team regulars have suffered a spell on the sideline with the most notable change to the line-up in recent weeks seeing summer signing Alex Iwobi moved into the no.10 role.

This saw Everton’s usual ever-present, Gylfi Sigurdsson, relegated to the bench. It’s fair to say in recent times, the Icelandic international has often split the Blues fan-base.

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Whilst he produces match-winning moments - such as his stunning strike off the bench late on vs West Ham - his all-round tendency to drift through a game unnoticed often outweighs those fleeting contributions.

He does little to move the ball into dangerous areas on a regular basis and lacks the dynamism to threaten a defence through quick feet or dribbling ability.

Iwobi, on the other hand, seems to possess more of an imposing and dynamic spark from the middle. But from looking at his underlying numbers from that no.10 role, has he done enough to solidify himself as a starter for the forseeable future?

As alluded too, a big criticism of Sigurdsson has been his tendency to allow play to bypass him for large parts of the game. A reason for this is that he can sometimes lack the speed to burst into the few areas of space that present themselves within a defensive structure.

(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)

This is reiterated by the fact that so far this season across his 731 minutes of playing time, he has received an average of 20.4 passes per 90 minutes.

For comparison, Iwobi, who has played 361 minutes so far as a no.10, has averaged 24.5 passes per 90 minutes. This would indicate that the Nigerian international tends to find more pockets of space to receive the ball from team-mates.

Not only is he more apt at receiving the ball, but he has also proven to be more productive with it.

He averages 35.3 passes per 90 minutes compared to Sigurdsson’s average of just 27.3 passes per 90 minutes. He also betters the Icelandic international in terms of playing more through passes, key passes and passes into the penalty box.

Not just more creative, he tends to move the ball at his feet with greater purpose too. Both players have averaged around 3.4 dribbles per 90 minutes so far this season, however, Iwobi’s success rate of 66.7% in those dribbles nearly doubles Sigurdsson’s success rate of 39.3%.

He also proves more direct in driving forward with the ball, averaging 0.85 progressive runs in comparison to Sigurdsson’s average of 0.25.

Both players have recorded just a solitary assist to date, however, Iwobi has played half the minutes of Sigurdsson and isn’t a set-piece regular for the Blues. Therefore, the above suggests that on current form, Iwobi looks to be the more penetrative and creative spark from the middle.

Sigurdsson still has plenty to offer this season, yet it would be fair to expect more cameo appearances than starting roles for the attacker given the growing influence of Iwobi.