Everton round out 2023 with a trip to the West Midlands to face Wolves, hoping to arrest a two-game losing streak that has left them back in the thick of the relegation dogfight.
In fact, victory for Luton town over Chelsea in the lunchtime kickoff would see the Blues begin their match in the bottom three thanks to the 10-point deduction handed down by the Premier League and the Hatters’ recent uptick in form.
Rob Edwards’s team have won three of their last six games and sit just a point below Everton in the table with a game in hand coming into the final weekend of the calendar year.
Meanwhile, of course, Sean Dyche’s men have lost their last two matches, against Tottenham and Manchester City, although they will feel they deserved a lot more than a return of zero points from their fixtures either side of Christmas.
The Spurs game was additionally costly in terms of the loss to injury of Idrissa Gueye, who was replaced by André Gomes in 2-1 defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and missed the clash with City. He won’t recover in time for the trip to Molineux and will likely be deputised again by Gomes who was excellent as a substitute in the former game but had a more up-and-down performance in midweek before he was withdrawn in the second half.
Ashley Young and Seamus Coleman won’t be ready for this one either and while Dyche described Abdoulaye Doucouré as “touch-and-go” to face Wolves, it would be a surprise if he is risked.
That will probably mean James Garner operating behind the striker, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin expected to be rotated back in with Beto dropping back to the bench.
Wolves will be without midfielder Jonny but defender Craig Dawson has passed a fitness test and striker Hwang Hee-Chan, who has made a habit of scoring in this fixture since signing for Wolves, has also been given the green light despite being substituted with a back injury in the 4-1 win at Brentford on Wednesday.
Mario Lemina, who scored the opener in that win over the Bees, looks set to miss out after he returned to France to attend to a family matter.
Everton’s away form over the past few weeks suggests that they should travel with confidence that they can get something from this game even if Wolves’s recent record of three wins and a draw from their last five games makes this another tricky fixture for the Toffees.
Dyche has instilled a never-say-die attitude in his players, though, and with the right application, defensive solidity and execution in the final third, they have every chance of coming away with all three points.
Kick-off: 3pm, Saturday 30 December, 2023
Referee: Tom Bramall
VAR: Michael Oliver
Last Time: Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 – 1 Everton
Predicted Line-up: Pickford, Patterson, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Onana, Gomes, Harrison, McNeil, Garner, Calvert-Lewin