The question
Vitalii Mykolenko (Everton, defender) scored 1 FPL point in GW7 against a median of 5 in his earlier games. That makes him the clearest low flag among defenders in this week’s scan.
Everton lost 0-2 to Chelsea on Saturday 17 October, kick-off 12:30 UK time, at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. Pedro Neto scored both goals: one just after half-time and one late on, from a loose ball after a blocked free-kick (Chelsea FC match report, Al Jazeera). Mykolenko started in Everton’s back four. Neto is also this week’s biggest high flag (15 points against a median of 2), so the two odd scores come from the same match.
So how much of the drop was the result, and how much was him? Most of it comes from the result. His defending numbers were also quieter than usual, and the match reports disagree about how he played.
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The main chart
His 1 point is 2 for playing and minus 1 for conceding twice. Nothing else was awarded. Across his games, his points track goals conceded cleanly:
- 0 conceded: 6, 11 and 5 points
- 1 conceded: 4 points
- 2 conceded: 1 and 1 points (GW3 and GW7)
What the numbers say
1. His normal is lifted by clean sheets. His “normal” of 5 is lifted by three clean sheets. Take those away and a 1-point game is what a two-goal defeat gives him. He also missed GW6, so the scanner’s baseline is only five games, which is a small sample.
2. It was the team. Tarkowski scored 0, Branthwaite 1 and Maitland-Niles (54 minutes) 1. All four Everton defenders who played scored 0 or 1 point. The chances Everton conceded (xGC 1.47) were close to his earlier median of 1.44, and two goals against is slightly above that.
3. It was also him, a little. He made 4 defensive actions (clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles). His earlier median was 6, though he also had 4 in GW1. Among the 78 defenders who played 60 or more minutes in GW7 the median was 7, and only 12 had fewer than his 4. Tarkowski had 7 and Branthwaite had 8.
- The scan: it shows distance from a player’s own normal, not the cause. Settings are fixed, not tuned on results: 30+ minutes played, 4+ earlier appearances, flag at 2.5. Mykolenko’s score is minus 2.67 on a baseline of 5 games.
- Defensive actions: clearances, blocks and interceptions plus tackles.
- Match reports: no BBC or Sky report for this match was found, so neither is cited.
- The code behind every chart and figure is kept on file and can be re-run. Subscribers can ask for it: subscribe for the code.
What they do not say
Whether he was at fault. The match reports disagree:
- The Irish Examiner’s match report says he left Neto unmarked in the box for the first goal (Irish Examiner).
- The fan site Read Everton rated him 7/10, called him Everton’s best player on his return, and saw no clear mistakes (Read Everton).
- Al Jazeera’s report names no Everton defender in either goal.
The first claim is one outlet’s view and unverified. FPL data has no errors column, so it cannot settle this.
Why his defensive actions were low, or what his role was. A single gameweek cannot separate a quiet game from bad luck.
What happens next. Mykolenko’s next match is away at Arsenal on Saturday 24 October, one of the hardest fixtures on FPL’s difficulty scale. A simple model, built from only seven games per team, puts the chance of an Everton clean sheet at roughly one in four. The most likely outcome is one goal against and about two points for him, with a clean sheet worth six or more. It rests on small samples and assumes he starts, so treat it as a rough guide. We will check it against what actually happens.
Three takeaways
- He was the clearest low flag among defenders. Mykolenko scored 1 FPL point in GW7 against a median of 5 in his earlier games.
- Most of the drop comes from the result. Everton lost 0-2 to Chelsea, and all four Everton defenders who played scored 0 or 1 point.
- It is a mild individual signal, not a verdict. His defending numbers were also quieter than usual, and the match reports disagree about how he played. So it is a mild individual signal on top of a team result.
Sources and licences
- Fantasy Premier League public data: player points, minutes, expected goals conceded and defensive actions, GW1 to GW7. Used for all three charts and every figure. SimPitch is not affiliated with the Premier League, Everton or Chelsea.
- Match reports: linked above and paraphrased, not quoted: Chelsea FC, Al Jazeera, Irish Examiner, Read Everton (fan site).
- Photo: Mykolenko in 2021, by Dynamomania.com (ТОВ «Динамоманія») via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0), cropped.
- Charts, text and calculations: made by SimPitch from the data above. © simpitch.co.uk.
Corrections
No corrections yet. If you spot an error, please get in touch and we’ll fix it and note the change here.
SimPitch (2026). Vitalii Mykolenko: witness statements disagree. simpitch.co.uk, 22 October 2026. https://simpitch.co.uk/weekly-analysis/posts/odd-gw7-mykolenko/