Season › 2011-12 › News Everton vs Fulham Lyndon Lloyd , 27 January, 44comments | Jump to most recent FA Cup 4th Round Preview When it comes to cup competition, the most you can hope for is to be drawn at home and Everton have been handed five straight home ties so far this season. While Goodison Park has been missing the comforts of home for David Moyes's team in the Premier League, the Blues have won three of four in the cup and came very close to topping Chelsea in that ultimately ill-fated League Cup fourth round clash in October. Top-flight opposition are in store this Friday as Fulham come to town with in-form Clint Dempsey adding to the American interest already provided by Landon Donovan and Tim Howard. Dempsey, whose nine League goals equal Everton's three top scorers' tallies combined, celebrated being named as US Soccer's Player of the Year by becoming the first American to score a hat-trick in the Premier League as the Cottagers stunned high-flying Newcastle United 5-2 last weekend. Howard irked Fulham boss Martin Jol this week by suggesting that the West London side relies too heavily on Dempsey for goals and there's no question that Moyes will e focusing on keeping the forward quiet as he plots Everton's route into the Fifth Round. Moyes is still hampered by injuries, however, with Tony Hibbert the only one of his walking wounded available to return after recovering from a groin strain. Phil Jagielka and Leon Osman remain on the longer-term injured list, while Sylvain Distin (hamstring), Jack Rodwell (hamstring) and Seamus Coleman (thigh) are struggling with niggly, recurrent muscle strains. Article continues below video content That leaves Moyes with more or less the same options as last Saturday when his charges struggled to match relegation-threatened Blackburn Rovers and ultimately had to settle for a draw. Though the manager has been known to change things around a little for cup games, it's probable he won't tinker too much, if at all, given the fact that he is facing Premier League opposition. Tim Cahill ending his long scoring drought will likely see him retain his place in attack and really only left midfield and centre forward appear open to prediction for this one. Louis Saha's struggles for goal just seems to drag on and he might be afforded a rest, while Royston Drenthe's success at Craven Cottage in the League earlier this season could earn him the nod in left midfield. Moussa Dembele and Mark Schwarzer are Fulham's most notable absentees as they bid to end a horrendous record at Goodison Park. Everton have won all of the last 10 meetings there between the two sides but the Cottagers have never lost an FA Cup tie against the Blues — indeed, their last win at Goodison back in 1975 was an FA Cup tie — so Moyes will be aiming to prolong history on the one hand and change it on the other. Certainly, a decent cup run can only help boost morale in the Everton ranks, particularly if some of the strikers can get some goals on the board. The win over Tamworth was the first time the Blues had scored more than one goal since mid-November and that lack of cutting edge up front has been the story of the season thus far. » Read more Live Matchday Forum Reader Comments (44) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer Add Your Comments In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site. » Log in now Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site. About these ads