Cornish Steve

Jingle bells, jingle bells, Jingle all the way. On what fun it is to see us Scoring goals all day.

Get Trafford. He's going to be some keeper.

Another clean sheet. It's as much about organization as it is about specific players. Having said that, Tarkowski is immense.

Thank you - and to those who've passed along their best wishes in messages.

The only Premier League team with at least 5 wins in the last 6 games. 100% record over the last 4 games, each being a clean sheet. More away wins so far this season than in the whole of the prior two seasons combined. Playing today with several first-team members missing.

I’ve been traveling again this week and will update the table once I’m home. Burnley 0-3 Everton Doucoure

Totally agree. We’re all too quick to judge.

I haven’t seen the fake or even the highlights yet. Did he do the slide?

Having now watched the entire game, a few things stand out: 1) Our constant hustling makes a huge difference. I don't know how many times we won the ball back that way, often deflecting a pass that ended up in our possession. This has suddenly become a team characteristic. 2) Fitness is clearly another important and related factor. It's no coincidence that we scored three times after 80 minutes; Newcastle just couldn't keep up with our undiminished energy. 3) McNeil and Harrison work really well together and are going to become an increasingly important factor as the season progresses. Both were like Energizer bunnies who never give up. 4) Our crosses are becoming ever more dangerous, especially McNeil but also Harrison and Young. 5) Yes, Seamus was captain for the day, but Tarkowski plays and acts like a real captain. His block in the second half was amazing: so decisive and all-in, right in the centre of the penalty box. 6) Pickford is enjoying himself, and it's giving him that extra edge. He makes excellent use of space and isn't afraid to wander outside the box. 7) The one thing that concerned me a little were the number of passes back to Pickford, a couple of which seemed under-hit. Also, it seems to me that a Newcastle player could have been hidden from sight and could have taken advantage. I may be making an issue of nothing, though. Overall, this was an excellent win. We don't need out-and-out top players to win when our discipline and tactical nous are top-notch and we play as a team of players who appear to understand one another well.

It has to be DC-L, no question - unless, of course, there's a fitness or potential injury issue. We'll need him fully fit during the holiday period.

Did you sign out as Lord O?

Yes, I found it this afternoon. When I checked yesterday, the West Ham game was there but not ours. I had to search specifically for 'Everton', and then it showed up.

Then I should check Prime - let me go and take a look. If it's there, I'll be back in two hours! PS - not on Prime. Maybe it's available in the UK only.

Incidentally, I could find no broadcast of Thursday's game against Newcastle, which is very odd (I save all broadcasts and was hoping to watch it last night). Almost every PL game is available either on Youtube TV or Peacock, but not Thursday's game. Is this because of the shenanigans surrounding Sky?

Everton 1-2 Chelsea DC-L

Our win on Thursday exceeded even our most optimistic predictions. In fact, only four predicted a win at all, and the most popular choice for first goalscorer was 'none'. Well done to Formby and Wiggytop for winning this round. Bill has a knack of knowing which predictions to avoid since his lead 'per prediction' has increased still further! Boston Toffee leads for the season.

True, but we were not really outplayed by United. The score was not a reflection of the game. Neither, I should add, have we been lucky when winning games; we've deserved to win. We've not played poorly all season really, losing early games simply because we had no real striker available. Personally, I'm very upbeat right now. We'll be brought down to earth from time to time, but our overall trajectory is clear.

On the highlights reel, did you see his reaction at the end of the game?

How about the last dozen?

This also points out what a complete and utter disaster it was appointing Benitez as manager. If the line was extended back a year, I suspect we'd see that Ancelotti was steadily improving the team - but not at the same pace as Dyche.

Here in the US, the NFL is defined as entertainment, not sport. This is very important because it means that they can change rules, make biased decisions, and even rig games in the name of entertainment - little different from WWE wrestling (or the wrestling we used to watch on World of Sport in the 60s and 70s, which was clearly rigged). "Look on the back of your ticket", a friend explained to me this week. "It says 'entertainment'". Our concern with apparent bias in favour of wealthy teams in the Prem would carry no sway in the US. Of course VAR would be used to achieve a desired outcome. If that's what generates the most money and entertains the most people and pulls in the most advertisers, then that's the way it should be. Which gets to the reason for writing this: If someone took the Premier League to court for bias - for allowing ridiculous marketing deals from family of the owners of City while penalizing Everton after changing the rules on how stadium interest payments are accounted for, or for allowing Newcastle to trade players at a discount with other teams in the owner's farm while requiring Everton to run every deal past their auditors and even then penalizing them ten points - how would the judge rule? Is it allowed because the Premier League is entertainment and the free market means it's all about the league's manipulators making the most money? Or is it defined as sport where fair play and rules matter and corporations making big money is a secondary consideration? Maybe others from the US can clarify rulings and decisions from the past about the NFL being entertainment and therefore being allowed to stack the dice as ever they wish. And does anyone know what the Prem's legal defence would be if charged with bias? Is the Premier League sport or entertainment? Are Everton fans no different from WWE wrestling watchers?

I didn't write that players should face "no criticism", just not "OTT criticism". It was getting to the point where Young and Beto were being pilloried in every other message. DC-L missed a sitter on Thursday, no less than the opportunity Beto missed last weekend, but is DC-L being criticised endlessly? No. Young played a different position on Thursday, and played it well, so does he deserve, in virtually every message, to be ridiculed and demeaned? No. I agree that no player should be immune from criticism, but it gets a little tiresome to read message after message that goes over the top. Just my opinion.

I was wondering whose shirt is number 58. Looking it up, it's Mackenzie Hunt.

Without the point deduction, we would be above Chelsea in the table. That means we ought to be favourites to win this game.

I was receiving text notifications about the score during business meetings I was attending yesterday in Dallas, and I couldn't believe the score going up and up. At the airport, I read everyone's comments with praise for the entire team. That's so encouraging after all the negativity surrounding Young and Beto, both of whom appeared to play well yesterday. I hope this puts an end to the OTT criticism faced by these players. The truth is that both are contributing to our winning run. Well done to them and to everyone on the team.