Ronald Koeman’s Everton are stuck in somewhat of a rut at present.

The Toffees have won just one their last nine Premier League games, and have fallen to eighth in the table as a result.

This was all after a start to the season which saw Koeman’s men win four of their first five matches, and sit second in the division behind Manchester City on September 17.

However, just seven points from a possible 27 since then has highlighted Everton’s limitations, but they did pick up a credible point at home to Manchester United last weekend.

Defeats at Bournemouth, Burnley, Southampton, and most notably Chelsea has frustrated the Toffees faithful, who have seen their side go from potential top four challengers to in danger of falling out of the top half.

Koeman’s men will be looking for their first victory since October 30 when they travel to Watford in Saturday’s early kick-off, and a win would put them above West Brom and United into fifth.

However, they will have to improve upon their recent performances when they go to Vicarage Road tomorrow, and some players will need to up their game for Everton to get a result this weekend.

Here are TWO of those players…

Gerard Deulofeu

Gerard Deulofeu, 22, has played 368 minutes of Premier League football this season, and hasn’t contributed a goal or an assist yet.

The Spanish Under-21 international did well when on loan at Goodison Park in the 2013/14 campaign, and his technical ability and trickery caused many defenders problems.

But we just haven’t seen that this season.

He has created just six chances, which is well down on most of Everton’s midfield options, and he has had just five shots on goal so far, only three of which have hit the target.

Deulofeu is clearly a very talented player who bags of potential, but Everton fans need to see more of it when he’s on the pitch, especially when they are in need of a creative spark.

Ross Barkley

He was supposed to be the next big-thing in English football, and still could be, but Ross Barkley isn’t influencing games enough for Everton this season.

The 23-year-old has scored twice and laid on just one assist in 12 Premier League starts for the Toffees and, for a player of his calibre and the position he plays in this Everton side, contributing to just three goals isn’t good enough – two of those contributions were in the first two games of the season.

Barkley may have created more chances than anyone in the Toffees team, but has just one assist to his name, and he is wasteful in front of goal, firing more shots off target (12) than he has on (11).

There’s clearly something missing from the midfielder’s game at the moment, and he was dropped from the side that drew with Manchester United last weekend.

When Everton need him most to bring something extra or different to their attacking play, he hasn’t quite been able to deliver, and needs to improve when he’s on the pitch to help Everton challenge for Europe.