Everton ended 2023 with a third straight loss, falling 3-0 at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
The Toffees registered zero shots on target in the one-sided affair, which Everton boss Sean Dyche said was a result of Wolves' quality as well as his own team's lack of spark ater a busy few weeks to end the year.
"[Wolves] have turned into a good side and have worked hard to become one, especially at home," Dyche told PLP. "We have asked a lot of the players. The fixture list is unkind.
"We have just come off the back of a run of [lots of] games with injuries. We've come a long way since the second game of the season but we lacked that bit of fizz and energy to take the game on. We fell short with the physicality of the game.
"They played really well and exposed moments when we looked jaded. We've done it to others ourselves and they did it to us today."
The poor spell means the Toffees are once again flirting with the relegation zone, but the team will not play another Premier League match until Jan. 14. Instead, they'll gear up for an FA Cup fixture on Jan. 4 against Crystal Palace before having a 10-day break until they return to league action.
"The next league game is a couple of weeks away which is bizarre," Dyche said. "We hold value in the cup, of course we do, but we have been stretched in the Christmas period so we need to make sure we have players available [for the league]."