Match Preview

The Everton bandwagon just keeps rolling on.  The doubts that crept in after the bore draw at Blackburn were more or less dispelled by another three points against Manchester City on Boxing Day that kept their neighbours United at arms length for another week and preserved the Blues' proud third place position.

Next up are Charlton Athletic, a team who spent millions in the summer in the expectation that they would be occupying the kind of position Everton currently enjoy.  Alan Curbishley's team had trouble gelling earlier in the season but there have been signs in recent weeks that they had begun to get their act together with three wins and a draw in their last four outings.

David Moyes's side are going to need all the resilience they have shown away from home so far this season as they face tricky back-to-back matches in London.  Furthermore, four of their next five matches are away from Goodison and the Blues will play at home just once between now and when these two sides meet again on Merseyside on 22 January 2005.

The problems associated with having a small squad are just starting to appear for Moyes at a time when he will be thinking about adding to his team in the January transfer window.  Leon Osman missed the win over City with a knee injury and will be rated as doubtful for this one as well. 

Thomas Gravesen took a knock on Boxing Day but was removed from the fray more to protect his disciplinary record than through any health concerns.  He is, however, rated as a doubt along with Marcus Bent, who suffered from that nasty-looking stamp on the ankle by Christian Negouai.  Although perhaps harsh in the context of the typical Gerrard-esque two-footed lunge that only seems to earn a yellow and a scowl from the referee, a red card was the right message to send on Saturday for a foul that could so easily have resulted in much more serious damage to our leading scorer! 

Assuming those clear up quickly, Moyes may well name an unchanged team at The Valley as the Blues aim to extend their current run of seven games without defeat.  They have enjoyed success here in the past with two wins in the Premiership and will be hoping to halt the Addicks' recent revival in its tracks while hoping that Chelsea, Arsenal and United all slip up away from home...

Lyndon Lloyd

Matchday Stats

This will be the 48th meeting between Everton and Charlton Athletic in all competitions, and the 24th at Charlton.  This match will be the 11th meeting in the Premier League and the 6th at The Valley.

Everton's full record against Charlton Athletic is:

Our record away to Charlton is:

The last match between the sides was on 17 January this year when Charlton won 1-0 at Goodison Park.  The last match between the sides at The Valley was earlier that season, on 26 August when goals from Wayne Rooney and Steve Watson secured a 2-2 draw.

The only Everton hat-trick against Charlton was by Bill Dean on 7 February 1931, when Everton won 7-0 at The Valley in only the second meeting between the sides.

The most common victory for Everton is 2-1 which has happened 7 times in Everton's 21 victories.  Charlton�s most common victory is 1-0, which has happened 4 times in their 16 victories. The most common draw between the teams is 2-2, which has occurred 5 times in the 10 draws between the sides.

Everton's record for 28 December is:

This is the first time the sides have met on this day.  The last match on this day was in 2003 when a Wayne Rooney goal secured a vital 1-0 victory over Birmingham City at Goodison Park.

Jason Danskin was born on this day in 1967 in Winsford.  After signing professional forms in July 1985, Jason made just 1 appearance for Everton against Luton Town in May 1985, two months before turning professional.  In March 1987, Jason was sold to Mansfield Town.

Milestones that can be reached in this game:

• If Kevin Kilbane plays in the match, this will be his 50th appearance for Everton in the league

Steve Flanagan

Report

Poor game between two ordinary teams. Charlton were very, very average today but then so were we.  The first half was dismal.  It had 0-0 written all over it for most of the match. 4-5-1 v 4-5-1 led to both midfields cancelling each other out.

For Everton, Gravesen (again) looked the only one capable of creating anything.  Bent worked hard before he went off and until the first goal I thought the back four looked pretty solid.

Cahill was wasted on the wing.  He can't beat people and he's most effective arriving late in the box, but take away his goals and you don't get much else from him.  Yobo didn't do much wrong, but then again he didn't do much at all.  With Yobo in midfield, the balance looked all wrong and we were devoid of ideas, save for punting it in Bent's general direction and hoping he'd beat the defender to it (which, to his huge credit, he often did).

We gradually improved second half though and looked the more likely side to go on and win it.  However, it was a huge mistake to bring Ferguson on.  To get the best out of Ferguson, you need wingers getting crosses in and we just didn't have anything down the flanks today.

It all fell apart when Bent was taken off, having run himself into the ground.  Until he arrived at least Bent was a willing runner, but once he'd gone our outlet up front disappeared.  We badly missed his movement up front and it was a clear warning of what will happen if we don't get an adequate replacement in January.

The goals that followed were very poor. The first was reminiscent of Fowler's on Boxing Day in that we cleared the first ball from a corner but failed to deal with the follow up and El Karkouri nodded in from close range.

Ferguson then elbowed Hreidarsson and off he went, caught banged to rights; his sending off was unforgivable.  We'd just conceded, but there was still time to get back into the game until his moment of stupidity.  Back to goal, man behind him, but under no real pressure and Ferguson decides to elbow the defender in the face, in full view of the ref.  Straight red and no complaints from anyone.  Cheers Duncan.

For those people who think he should be given a one-year contract, forget it.  1-0 down, chasing the game and our only striker decides to get himself sent off.  Well done, Dunc.  He's not worth it, he's a liability and he let the team down badly today.   A nice three game breather now awaits for him, when he can count the �70,000 he'll earn in that time at his leisure.

The second goal came when Dickie Wright, who had made two excellent saves since coming on for Martyn just before half time, came for and missed a corner and Hreidarsson bundled it in at the back post. Ho hum.

Man of the match by some distance was Bent whose work rate was phenomenal.  A honourable mention too for Hibbert who, having been skinned by Jerome Thomas early on, came back well and produced another excellent display.  He is one of the best tacklers around at the moment.

Disappointing day but if nothing else, it showed that we can't expect to keep on progressing on such limited resources.

Jamie Andrews