Premier League Preview – Everton

After a much needed break for international football, the Eagles return to Premier League action at Goodison Park to take on Everton.

It has been a happy hunting ground for Palace in recent seasons other than the loss there last season having been unbeaten in this fixture for four games before that.

With the rumours that Wilfried Zaha may not be available, the views of the fanbase are not entirely positive ahead of this game. If this is to prove true then this is the time for other players to step up. Too often Palace have looked disappointing without the obvious talisman but that has to change.

The other concern has been the miss-firing front line. While Christian Benteke sits out until the New Year, Jordan Ayew has yet to hit the back of the net and Alexander Sorloth has looked very much off the pace. The wonderful sight of Connor Wickham scoring against Dulwich Hamlet during the international break could be that glimmer of hope.

Everton enter this fixture on a run of three games unbeaten while Palace have only managed a point in that time for which Roy Hodgson has received a fair amount of criticism from. If Max Meyer does not start this game as the player likely to provide the side with a different dimension, then Hodgson will be the target of the critics once again.

The German has shown enough in his start against Bournemouth and cameos from the bench elsewhere that he must be that player in the midfield to take some pressure off Zaha and be a creator with that touch of class.

TEAM NEWS (courtesy of Physio Room)

CRYSTAL PALACE – Wilfried Zaha (groin) is a slight doubt while Christian Benteke (knee), Scott Dann (knee) and Connor Wickham (calf) are all expected to miss out.

EVERTON – Idrissa Gueye (ankle) is a slight doubt as are Seamus Coleman (foot), Yerry Mina (metatarsal) and Andre Gomes (hamstring). Meanwhile Beni Baningame (ankle) and James McCarthy (leg) will both miss out.

ACTION REPLAY

The last time these two sides met at Goodison Park was back in February where the hosts ran out 3-1 winners. Everton took the lead through Gylfi Sigurdsson straight after the interval with Oumar Niasse and Tom Davies going on to add to the scoreline before Luka Milivojevic pulled back a consolation from the penalty spot.

Who Scored man of the match – Theo Walcott (8.3)

FORM GUIDE

Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;

  • 10/02/2018 Everton 3-1 Crystal Palace
  • 18/11/2017 Crystal Palace 2-2 Everton
  • 21/01/2017 Crystal Palace 0-1 Everton
  • 30/09/2016 Everton 1-1 Crystal palace
  • 13/04/2016 Crystal Palace 0-0 Everton

Last FIVE results for Palace;

  • 06/10/2018 Crystal Palace 0-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
  • 01/10/2018 Bournemouth 2-1 Crystal Palace
  • 25/09/2018 West Bromwich Albion 0-3 Crystal Palace
  • 22/09/2018 Crystal Palace 0-0 Newcastle United
  • 15/09/2018 Huddersfield Town 0-1 Crystal Palace

Last FIVE results for Everton;

  • 06/10/2018 Leicester City 1-2 Everton
  • 02/10/2018 Everton 1-1 Southampton
  • 29/09/2018 Everton 3-0 Fulham
  • 23/09/2018 Arsenal 2-0 Everton
  • 16/09/2018 Everton 1-3 West Ham United

FORM PLAYERS (courtesy of Who Scored)

Top two rated players from each team so far this season;

  • Gylfi Sigurdsson 7.52
  • Aaron Wan-Bissaka 7.46
  • Michael Keane 7.24
  • Luka Milivojevic 7.12

ONE TO WATCH

RICHARLISON DE ANDRADE

Former clubs – Real Noroeste, America Mineiro, Fluminense, Watford

The 21 year old made his professional debut in 2015 while at America Mineiro and hit a hot scoring streak before moving on to Fluminense in 2016. Those two short stints were enough to attract the eyes of many but it was Watford who secured his services in 2017 in a deal worth £11.2million. After just a season in the Premier League, Everton shelled out £35million for the Brazilian which could end up rising to £50million.

With a Who Scored average rating of 7.19 in his six Premier League games to date, Richarlison has managed to score four times even though he has missed three games through suspension following his sending off against Bournemouth.

After making a number of appearances for the Brazilian Under 20 side in 2017, Richarlison made his full internationalal debut in 2018.

PREDICTION

After a four game run without a Premier League win, Everton have won their last two matches. Palace have lost successive league matches with only Newcastle and Cardiff losing more in the top flight this season. The Eagles have scored in their last five visits to Goodison Park but have not kept a clean sheet on the blue half of Merseyside since September 1992.

  • TEB prediction – draw
  • Who Scored prediction – home win

BETTING ODDS (courtesy of Paddy Power)

  • Home – 5/6
  • Draw – 5/2
  • Away – 7/2
  • Both teams to score – 4/5

Find out what The Blue Room told TEB in our summer feature ‘View From The Opposition’

 

 

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