Match Preview
Everton return to Premier league action on Tuesday evening as they travel to London to face a tricky assignment against Fulham at Craven Cottage.
The Blues will need to pick themselves up following Saturday’s dismal cup exit at the hands of Luton while also dealing with ongoing injury problems that are severely restricting Sean Dyche’s ability to navigate what has become a rocky patch of form.
Everton have won just one of their last eight matches in all competitions and still set precariously just above the relegation zone above their cup conquerors, Luton thanks to the points deduction that the club’s lawyers will be fighting at an appeal hearing in the coming weeks.
Dyche’s side appear to have lost their way somewhat in the absence of Abdoulaye Doucouré, and with Idrissa Gueye away on Africa Cup of Nations duty and Andre Gomes struggling once more with injury, there is a depressing lack of creativity in midfield and dynamism and effectiveness up front.
“It’s a calf,” Dyche said of Gomes. “He won’t be fit this week. It’s going to be a matter of time, but we don’t know how long yet. He’s had a couple of them over the last few months, and it’s a loss to us because he’s shown he wants to adapt.”
Dominic Calvert-Lewin continues his barren run in front of goal, Beto is struggling to convince that he is the answer leading the line and Dwight McNeil has not looked the same player since injuring himself at Crystal Palace earlier this month.
Both Doucouré and Gomes are ruled out for the trip to the Capital with hamstring and calf issues respectively, and Ashley Young probably won’t the trip as he works his way back to full fitness. Seamus Coleman could travel, with Dyche admitting that it would be a “judgement call” whether or not to push him back into the fold.
That leaves the manager grappling with the same personnel as were available at the weekend against the Hatters, a group that, collectively, turned in a worryingly one-dimensional and in effective display.
Jordan Pickford will almost certainly return to the side after Joao Virginia was allowed the chance to impress in back-to-back FA Cup ties but Dyche’s options to mix things up elsewhere in the team are limited.
The back four will pick itself in the absence of Coleman and Young, likewise central midfield so it’s in the forward areas where the gaffer might tinker. Beto and Calvert-Lewin started in a strike partnership against Luton that didn’t look like it was destined to work so it’s possible he might bring Arnaut Danjuma into the starting XI now that it appears as though Kevin Thelwell will resist any approach from Lyon to take the Dutchman on loan.
Lewis Dobbin has shown flashes of promise but remains raw, as does Youssef Chermiti who made a cameo at the end of the cup tie on Saturday but it wasn’t enough time for him to stake a claim for a rare start.
The Cottagers under former Toffees boss, Marco Silva, have already beaten Everton somewhat fortuitously on two occasions this season, first on the opening day in the Premier League and then in the Carabao Cup Quarter-Finals in that dramatic penalty shootout that feels more and more like a watershed moment in the Blues’ season.
They come into the weekend sitting in 13th place and seven points better off than Everton but they will be without Harry Wilson who is ruled out and Adama Traore who is very likely to join his team-mate on the sidelines because of a thigh problem. Ex-Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi is on AfCoN duty along with Calvin Bassey and Fode Ballo-Toure.
Kick-off: 7:45pm, Tuesday 30 January, 2024
Referee: Tom Bramall
VAR: David Coote
Last Time: Fulham 0 – 0 Everton
Predicted Line-up: Pickford, Patterson, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Onana, Garner, Harrison, McNeil, Danjuma, Calvert-Lewin