Burnley FC: Dwight McNeil goings on at Everton are a double surprise - View | OneFootball

Burnley supporters must be surprised by Dwight McNeil's recent exploits with Everton

Former Burnley man Dwight McNeil has begun the new Premier League season in a rich vein of form, and has made five goal contributions in six top-flight appearances, a return greater than that of Arsenal frontman Kai Havertz.

Perhaps most impressively, McNeil's scintillating performances have come despite the fact that Sean Dyche's Toffees have started the season in an overall woeful fashion.

The former Clarets ace bagged a brace as the Merseyside outfit earned their first victory of the season, defeating Crystal Palace 2-1 on Saturday afternoon, but before that Dyche's men had failed to win a single match in five attempts, losing four.

The Goodison Park faithful will have been most disappointed by recent 3-2 defeats against both Aston Villa and Bournemouth, in which the Toffees had previously held 2-0 leads before falling on the wrong side of comeback efforts.

But McNeil was a shining light for his side during both of these losses, as he assisted Dominic Calvert-Lewin during the Bournemouth clash, as well as both scoring and creating a goal at Villa Park.

McNeil form must surprise Burnley fans

The former Clarets wideman has already managed three goals and two assists in just six Premier League outings this campaign, which will come as a surprise to the Turf Moor faithful.

After rising through the academy ranks with the Clarets, McNeil's first full season as a senior player came during the 2018/19 top-flight campaign, in which he scored three goals and provided five assists.

But McNeil never bettered his return of three goals in a single season while plying his trade for the Lancashire outfit, and failed to find himself on the scoresheet, while also creating just one assist during a disappointing 2021/22 season which saw Burnley relegated to the Championship, prompting the 24-year-old to leave for Everton.

However, the former England youth international established more of an eye for goal upon his arrival in Merseyside as he produced a return of seven goals and three assists during his first season with the Toffees.

If McNeil can continue his current form for an extended period, then he is set to produce a career best tally of goals and assists which could dwarf his previous numbers.

McNeil's position will intrigue Clarets faithful

Meanwhile, the Clarets faithful will also be surprised to see that Dyche, who also managed McNeil in his Burnley days, has opted to move the former wideman to a central role.

The Englishman spent the entirety of his Clarets stint as a winger, while he has only recently been deployed in the number 10 role by Dyche, and it is working a treat.

McNeil is currently finding himself among the goals in a way in which he has never managed before, which seems to be courtesy of his new position.

The former Clarets man is clearly playing with high levels of confidence, epitomised by the long-range effort he scored against Palace on Saturday.

It would not be unfair to say that McNeil is heavily reliant on his left foot, which makes the fact that Dyche has opted to deploy him in a central area all the more intriguing.

The Toffees ace is not a conventional attacking midfielder in the same sense as many of his Premier League peers, such as Tottenham's James Maddison, or Fulham's Emile Smith-Rowe, but he is currently displaying a vein of form which will surprise Clarets fans who never saw McNeil perform in such a prolific manner.