View: Everton star has been excellent but must cut out one flaw as Europe dream in sight

James Tarkowski has been one of Everton’s most important players this season, but the defender is prone to errors.

European football is the dream for the Toffees, and that could very much become a reality with a crucial seven weeks of the season inbound.

David Moyes’ side are currently placed in a projected UEFA Conference League position in eighth place but could push for Europa League and even Champions League football.

Performances of their key men in the final seven games of this campaign will be imperative, including from Tarkowski.

However, across Everton’s season, the 33-year-old has not always been at it, with this latest stat emerging.

How error-prone is James Tarkowski for Everton?

Tarkowski is an excellent defender, and nothing can take that away from the Toffees player.

But the centre-back has had one flaw throughout this season, and that is the frequency of his errors made for Everton.

This season, Tarkowski has made six errors leading to a shot and one leading to a goal. His total of seven errors puts him at the top of Everton’s squad, with Pickford second with three total errors.

However, more worrying is that Tarkowski’s six errors leading to shots are the most in the Premier League this season, according to Sofascore.

Tottenham’s Pedro Porro remains behind him with five. Overall, Tarkowski may consider himself lucky that most of those instances only ended in a shot rather than a goal.

But if the Englishman continues this trend of leading the league for this stat, he may eventually run out of luck, and that is an outcome the Toffees must avoid at all costs.

Fans have one eye on European away days, and denying them those experiences would be a cruel blow.

When did James Tarkowski make an error for a goal?

Tarkowski’s error for Everton this season came in the 4-2 home defeat to Brentford back in January. A timely find considering the Blues’ next opponents.

His poor pass out from the back was intercepted by Vitaly Janelt, who, after one touch, swung a cross in for Igor Thiago.

The Brazilian netted the opening goal of the game, and while the result ultimately ended in a six-goal thriller, conceding first likely had quite the impact on Everton’s game plan.

On this occasion, the error may have cost the Blues points against the Bees. With the reverse fixture on the way, he will be hoping to avoid a repeat of history.

However, it does also have to be stated that Tarkowski’s excellent defensive performances have likely earned Everton far more points than they have lost, although that statistic may not be a tangible data point to retrieve.

But with margins slim at the very top of the table, the Englishman needs to reduce his frequency of his mistakes.

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