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Paul Merson has explained that Everton have become so reliant on their star Richarlison, who will serve the final game of his suspension at the weekend for a red card he picked up against Liverpool in the Merseyside derby.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side host Manchester United on Saturday afternoon in the Premier League and will be hoping for a positive result to enter the international break with.

The Toffees started the league season with 13 points from their opening five matches, but they’ve followed that up with back-to-back defeats against Southampton and Newcastle United.

Richarlison has been absent from the two losses with his three-game suspension, something which pundit Merson believes has played a big role:

“They can’t seem to win without him,” Merson wrote in the Daily Star.

“Everton become just efficient without Richarlison. He’s got that X-factor and he stretches teams. They are very reliant on him. They’ve been looking for someone to do something special before they get going in the last couple of games.”

TBR’s View:

Richarlison, who earns £90,000-a-week (Spotrac), has grown into a real Everton favourite since he joined from Watford back in 2018 and is quite often the go-to man for his team.

The 23-year-old is a versatile attacker that has found a settled position in recent times as a left-winger, which is an area where he shows his quality on the ball and also the high work-rate out of possession that often gets overlooked.

He’s started the new season with four goals and two assists in seven games across all competitions so far, but he’ll have to wait until after the international break to return to club football and will be watching on from the sidelines against Man United.