If the final 48 hours of the transfer window matches the intensity of this clash at Elland Road then Finch Farm will be a busy place. It needs to be.
Everton are not a bad side. Progress has been visible across the first five performances of this season.
Yet once again they were undone by the same issues that continue to make them vulnerable. There was no lack of fight, no lack of desire and no lack of willingness from Frank Lampard's side.
But this is a side missing a controlling influence in the centre of midfield, missing a focal point up front and, most tellingly, missing options that can make a difference from the bench. That last point is more important than ever this season.
REPORT: What Everton players did will give Frank Lampard encouragement after falling into Leeds trap
The most significant statistic from Everton's 1-1 draw with Leeds United is not the number of goals scored by each side. Instead it is the number of substitutions made. Jesse Marsch made four changes for the hosts. Lampard made none. There was a point, after Leeds' equaliser and as the game descended into a chaotic battleground, when the Blues boss would surely have turned to new signing Neal Maupay. He could not after Premier League registration rules meant he was ineligible to play a part on Tuesday night - a point seemingly lost on Everton, with the club suggesting he would be part of the squad as recently as Monday.
Maupay's absence was temporary. So was that of the injured Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Mason Holgate, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Yerry Mina, Andros Townsend and Ben Godfrey. Everton's squad will get stronger as those players return.
But last season showcased the danger in relying on a threadbare squad, or players whose injury misfortune is becoming frustratingly repetitive. Idrissa Gueye looks set to boost Lampard's options before September 1 but more work is needed. In a season in which five substitutions can now be made, Lampard's inability to turn to his bench has been a theme of the first five games. On Tuesday night, when no player could be seen warming-up during a second half when fresh legs were needed, it felt like Lampard was himself making a point over his squad depth that should be clear to everyone. With the likes of Southampton, Leeds, Fulham and Nottingham Forest, who many in Blue would have viewed as clubs they may be able to rise above during this campaign, all showing signs they will be competitive, the Everton board cannot leave Lampard - whose name was sung by the travelling fans on the final whistle - stranded beyond the hour mark of every game. Earlier this summer, majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri called on supporters to judge the success of Everton's transfer window only once it was over. With two days to go, work remains to be done.
Despite the weaknesses that remain in need of addressing, this Everton side has repeatedly come close to its first win of the season - it has been competitive in every game and was again so at Leeds. This latest solid performance came at a raucous Elland Road where the home supporters created a fierce atmosphere for football that matched the intensity from the stands. The hosts dominated possession in the early stages but created little, their attacks stifled by a lack of quality and the stubbornness of Everton's defence.
The away side battled through the early storm and then took the lead through the player whose name has dominated headlines for weeks. Whether Lampard's 'red line' - the point after which he said Anthony Gordon would not be sold - has passed is unclear but the 21-year-old starlet once again highlighted his value to a side still short on creativity and flair.
For so long it has felt Lampard's Everton have needed a slice of luck and in the 17th minute it materialised. A tackle on Gordon fell to Dwight McNeil, who found Alex Iwobi. Gordon's run burst through the Leeds back line and Iwobi found him - but only after Diego Llorente's tangled legs prevented him from blocking the pass. For the second time in four days Gordon maintained his composure, slotting through Illan Meslier's legs.
The first-half continued in much the same vane, frenetic yet scrappy. Leeds' in-form striker Rodrigo almost finished a ball whipped across Jordan Pickford's goal but Everton, while far from in control, dealt with the pressure.
The little genius that was on show typically came down Everton's left - Demarai Gray and Gordon both being hacked down by Rasmus Kristensen after tricking their way beyond the defender. As the increasingly frustrated home fans booed Pickford's perceived time wasting Everton held the lead at the break.
Leeds emerged for the second half with renewed vigour, Brenden Aaronson cutting in from the left and forcing Pickford to push away his curling effort before Jack Harrison fired straight at the keeper from inside the box. Everton's resistance was broken soon after, however. Luis Sinisterra was given time and space on the edge of the box and, when shaping for a far post effort instead whipped the ball into Pickford's near post, England's number one's vision impaired by the defenders in front of him. The final 30 minutes was a chaotic inferno of tackles, misplaced passes and Leeds attacks that were largely blunted by a resolute Everton defence.
Tensions came close to boiling over when Gordon and Kristensen were both booked after going head-to-head on the halfway line but while the match fizzed and popped neither side could find the magic - or force the mistake - to snatch a crucial win. Amadou Onana had a close-range effort bravely blocked and Nathan Patterson, played through by a wonderful Gordon pass, fired straight at Meslier. At the other end, Pickford saved well from Joe Gelhardt. This match ultimately ended 1-1. But the most telling statistic was not the final score. It was the number of substitutes made by Lampard.
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