Could the Europa League be Everton’s saving grace this season?

Everton boss Roberto Martinez will be hoping that his team can have a sustained run in the Europa League

To say that Everton have underperformed domestically this season would be an understatement.

Roberto Martinez’s team are closer to the relegation zone than the Champions League spots, yet they are still in the Europa League.

The Toffees face a trip to Swiss side Young Boys on Thursday night for the first leg of their round of 32 Europa League tie.

Opposition

As the Toffees topped their group ahead of in-form German outfit Wolfsburg and French strugglers Lille they look to have been given a favourable draw.

Young Boys are a decent side though and will be no pushovers, as they won all three of their group games at the Stade de Suisse without conceding a goal. They also finished just a point behind group winners Napoli.

They are currently second in the Swiss top-flight, seven points behind league leaders Basel in the table and have won five out of their last six games in all competitions.

Turnaround

Everton form has enjoyed a slight turnaround in recent weeks. The Toffees have suffered just one defeat in six matches, which came at Chelsea last Wednesday when Willian grabbed the only goal of the game in the 89^th minute at Stamford Bridge after Gareth Barry had previously been dismissed.

That turnaround in form has been inspired by improved defensive displays from the Toffees backline. The Toffees have conceded just once in their last four games, but the problem has been scoring goals with just one goal scored in those same four games.

Outstanding

In contrast to their form in the Premier League, Everton’s Europa League campaign has been outstanding. They were given a tough group draw alongside German side Wolfsburg and French side Lille and Russian outsiders Krasnodar.

However, they made easy whether of the group beating high-flying Bundesliga Wolfsburg home and away. Hammering Lille at home and gaining a goalless draw in France.

Martinez’s side drew in Krasnodar, before losing their final home game against the Russian’s, in a game that Toffees boss decided to field a team of youngsters.

The heavy home wins against Wolfsburg and Lille may look the most impressive, but it was the 2-0 win at Wolfsburg that should go down as their best European performance of the season so far.

Martinez’s men soaked up heavy pressure from the home team currently second in the Bundesliga and expertly hit the Germans twice on the break to come away with a superb victory. It was the perfect European away performance.

Style

Toffees boss Roberto Martinez has stated in the past that maybe Everton’s style of play suits European football better than Premier League football, and it is not hard to see why he would think that considering the contrasting fortunes in the two competitions.

Everton’s style of football was a breath of fresh air last season and lead to the Toffees finished fifth in the Premier League table, not far off fourth-place Arsenal.

However, the Toffees have struggled to recreate that style this season in the Premier League, yet seem to be able to produce a similar brand of football to last season in the Europa League.

Maybe teams in the English top-flight have worked Everton out and now know how to counter-act their style of play, which in turn has affected the confidence of the players. The players have seemed bereft of confidence this season, except in European competition where they have been superb.

Cheer

Toffees fans have had very little to cheer this season in the Premier League, with the club currently in the bottom half of the table. Hopefully for everybody connected with the club they can re-discover some that sharp, attacking style that they produced on so many occasions last season.

The defence now seems more solid and first choice keeper Tim Howard returned from injury for the visit to Chelsea, despite the fact that Spanish understudy Joel Robles had kept three consecutive clean sheets and was gaining confidence with every game.

A good run in the Europa League may just give Everton the momentum to finish the season in a strong manner.

Favourites

Everton are favourites to defeat their Swiss opposition on Thursday night at odds of 7/5. In fact the Toffees are still considered ninth favourites to win the competition out of the 32 left, which considering their current form is not bad going.

Needed

Everton are starting to ask questions about boss Martinez’s ability to manage their club and the only way the Spaniard can answer those questions is by his team having a sustained run in the Europa League.

Luckily for Martinez it seems that his team are in better form than a few weeks ago and the tie in Switzerland could just be the catalyst to revive Everton’s ailing fortunes this season.

Could the Europa League be Everton’s saving grace this season?