Match Preview
With the final interruption for internationals out of the way for this year, Everton’s season resumes on Saturday with the visit of Brentford.
It’s the first of two home games either side of a trip along the M62 to face a Manchester United expected to be in the throes of a “new manager bounce” following the appointment of Ruben Amorim and which come before a daunting run of fixtures against all of current top four before the year is out.
Having picked up just 10 points from their first 11 games, dropped to within just three points of the relegation zone and with that difficult December in mind, the need for Sean Dyche’s side to start winning matches is becoming more and more acute.
The Blues were victorious against Ipswich in mid-October but have otherwise been in hugely disappointing form, scoring in just one other game since recording their first Premier League win against Crystal Palace at the end of September.
While Dyche fell back on his tried and tested trope about the “clouds that have been hovering around the club” for longer than he has been at Goodison Park in his press conference, there is mounting frustration among sections of the fanbase at his inability to get the best out of the players at his disposal.
He insists, however, that the performance at West Ham in a dull 0-0 draw before the break was a “good performance” and that “in-house”, morale is high and that the players are very positive which hopefully bodes well for the weekend.
And there was positive news on the injury front, with Jarrad Branthwaite on track to feature for Sean Dyche’s side against the Bees when he looks likely to be joined in the starting XI by Dwight McNeil.
The former had to withdraw from the England squad with a pelvic complaint while the latter was forced to sit out the draw at the London Stadium after a recurrence of the knee problem that required him to be substituted late in the home fixture against Fulham late last month.
The medical staff will wait to see how Branthwaite responds to today’s full training session at Finch Farm before deciding whether he can play.
“Dwight’s come through it really well,” Dyche explained during his press conference today. “He’s had a good week’s training.
“Jarrad trained today after settling things down (in terms of his injury) so we’ll see how he responds overnight. But we’re hopeful on that and he should be okay.”
Where some of the more medium- to longer-term absentees are concerned, the manager reported that all are making progress in their respective recoveries.
Armando Broja, the summer loan acquisition from Chelsea, appears to be the closest of the bunch, having trained with his new team-mates this week, while Youssef Chermiti continues his rehabilitation from a difficult toe injury.
“[Armando won’t be] involved but he’s back training. He’s only just getting into full training, [doing] light bits, getting him integrated into the group. He’s had a full week’s training but he does need a games programme, obviously.
“We’re looking at the dates now because we wanted to make sure he came though his first full week. He said he feels good and he looks fit so we’ll introduce a games programme as soon as the medical, sports science staff and myself all align. But it’s very soon now, I think.
“Youssef’s making good progress as well. He’s slightly behind but he had his first full day with us today, so that was pleasing because he’s worked very hard. It was a very unfortunate injury.
“Seamus [Coleman] is on the grass but he’s with the medical side so he’s just taking the first steps back. Jimmy [Garner]’s had good news from the specialist, although he’s been out a while now so he’s going to have to start the training period again.
“It was a back injury so you have to be careful in the initial spell and Tim [Iroegbunam]’s is similar but different — the stress response in his foot is clearing up so he can start semi-loading now and make sure that he starts his progress back.”
Brentford will travel to Merseyside with the unwanted distinction of having lost all of their away games so far this season, although they have travelled to Anfield, the Etihad, Old Trafford and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in that time before losing 2-1 at in-form Fulham earlier this month.
It’s the kind of winless record tailor-made for the “here come Everton” meme born of the Toffees’ infamous ability to be accommodating to teams and players stuck in a negative loop but, hopefully, with those players who didn’t travel for internationals able to take a breather, Dyche’s men will approach the game with the requisite energy.
Thomas Frank looked at one stage as though he might be without arguably his two most dangerous players, Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa but both forwards are expected to play. Between them, they have scored 15 goals so far this season, five more than the whole Everton team, so Branthwaite’s presence combined with 100% focus at the back could be key.
Defender Ethan Pinnock also looks likely to be passed fit, new signing Igor Thiago will be in the squad for the first time since suffering a serious knee injury but Kristoffer Ajer is ruled out, as are Rico Henry, Joshua Dasilva, Gustavo Nunes and Aaron HIckey.
Kick-off: 3pm, Saturday 23 November 2024
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
VAR: Matt Donohue
Last Time: Everton 1 – 0 Brentford
Predicted Line-up: Pickford, Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Gueye, Doucouré, Lindstrøm, Ndiaye, McNeil, Calvert-Lewin