Match Preview
Updated Everton take the long trip to the Capital and a Premier League clash at the Gtech Community Stadium for their 6th and final game of a very busy February.
The Premier League performances in that spell have been good enough to ensure that Everton are unbeaten going into this encounter with Thomas Frank’s men, whose form may be improving on the back of wins at West Ham Utd and Leicester City.
The only blot on Everton’s month of good results was the capitulation to Bournemouth at home in a sad final act for the at times imperious history of Everton in the FA Cup at Goodison Park. Perhaps best quietly swept under the carpet as we marvel at Moyes’s magical transformation of Sean Dyche’s pitiful side that almost continued last Saturday, but for that highly controversial last call by referee Adam Madley.
It’s almost a classic mid-table 6-pointer with Brentford sitting three places above Everton in the Premier League table (updates notwithstanding!) — except for the fact that no result can completely close that 6-point gap which separates the two sides.
But some murmurings of discontent are being heard as some fans are suggesting that tried and trusted old patterns are starting to resurface with Moyes:
A reluctance to use substitutes in a timely manner that cost is the win against Man Utd;
An inability to beat the supposed big clubs (Man Utd and Liverpool) when the chips are down (knife to a gunfight?);
The perennial inability to win us a trophy, as we were dumped out of the FA Cup… oh no, sorry, we weren’t going to mention that again!
But looking forward to this game, Moyes still appears to be saddled with a challenging injury list: McNeil, Calvert-Lewin, Broja, Chermiti, Ndiaye, Mangala, Patterson, Coleman — all out, which really limits the options for team selection.
In the few slots where Moyes perhaps has a choice, he has made his preferences relatively clear: Doucoure before Alcaraz, Garner ahead of Iroegbunam; Lindstrøm instead of Young.
But there is perhaps some hope for Moyes’s men as Brentford have picked up just 1 point in their last 5 home matches, scoring only 3 goals. However, the pithy truth about teams having a bad run, then coming up against Everton, means there can be no complacency in assuming the Blues can extend that particular statistic.
Everton played really well for at least an hour against Man Utd, especially pressing the Red Devils and forcing mistakes. But it was something they could not maintain and Moyes was slow in trying to do anything about it, which allowed them back in.
This game will no doubt be entirely different – aren’t they all in the Premier League? – but lessons must be learnt or the same mistakes will be repeated and points will be dropped.
For the home side, Christian Norgaard will be absent on Wednesday due to a concussion he sustained against Leicester. And Brentford are not short of their own long-term injuries: Igor Thiago, Josh Dasilva, Mathias Jensen, Aaron Hickey, Rico Henry, Sepp van den Berg are all out of action.
The last visit to the Gtech Stadium saw the Blues play better under Dyche to secure their first win of last season back in September 2023, with goals from Doucoure, Tarkowski and Calvert-Lewin. A similar result would do very nicely but the team will have to come with the right mindset to perform, fight for every ball, take care in possession, and drive forward when they can.
In his pre-match press conference, David Moyes confirmed the remaining games are really important to us. Lindstrøm was struggling with flu-like symptoms but he (and Tim Iroegbunam) are okay. Nathan Patterson has been back in training, but only for a day.
“The players have done really well, but we need to find a way to see games out.”
Giulia Bould from BBC Radio Merseyside referenced Idrissa Gana Gueye being top of the Premier League tackling table.
Moyes says he’s been pleased with the midfielder’s performances and you get concerned about players of his age, “losing their legs” but he’s acting like “he’s still a young ‘un.”
David Moyes hopes Brentford’s current bad run at home continues. Moyes says he wants to chase down the clubs above Everton and it feels like they’re a team on the up, pushing to the middle of the table, but he’s still got a job to do.
He admits he’s a bit surprised himself how quickly he’s been able to turn things around but the club have had a lift with the new owners and the new stadium on the way but what he needs to do is to lift the standards in the team.
In terms of using Brentford as an example, he says they’re a great-run club but Everton’s aspirations should be bigger than that and need to find a way back to the big time.
Kick-off: Wednesday, 26 February 7:30 pm GMT
Live TV: TNT Sports 5 from 7:00 pm GMT
Referee: Simon Hooper
Assistants: Adrian Holmes, Simon Long
Fourth Official: John Busby
Video Assistant Referee: Alex Chilowicz
Assistant VAR: Steve Meredith