Season › 2013-14 › News

Everton vs Hull City

Lyndon Lloyd , 18 October, 0comments  |  Jump to most recent
Match Preview

Everton are back at Goodison Park following the test at Manchester City a fortnight ago and the international break with Hull City the visitors as the Blues bid to reestablish their momentum in the Premier League.

Roberto Martinez has the task of getting his charges back to winning ways after the disappointing defeat at the Etihad Stadium, but his squad will be one member lighter given that his sizeable contingent of travelling internationals did not escape their duties unscathed.

Darron Gibson's season could be over before it has even really begun after he ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament playing for the Republic of Ireland against Kazakhstan, a setback that makes the deadline-day acquisition of Gareth Barry all the more astute. The 25-year-old will undergo surgery to mend his knee and faces a long road back that, given his protracted recovery from a separate knee issue between August and this month, makes it unlikely he will see action again this season.

It also makes keeping Barry fit that much more important given the paucity of reliable resources in defensive midfield, a fact illustrated against City where the Blues' centre was exploited to decisive effect by Manuel Pellegrini's men. The City loanee has performed impressively since arriving on loan and had made the starting berth in front of the back four his own and Martinez will be glad to have him back in the starting XI this weekend.

Article continues below video content


One player who still won't feature is Steven Pienaar; neither will Antolin Alcaraz. Both players are continuing gradual recoveries from their respective injuries, but Martinez expects the South African back next week for the trip to Aston Villa. Alcaraz is, the manager explained at his pre-match press conference, about three weeks away from being available to make his competitive Everton debut.

Barry's return is likely to be the only change from the team that started at City, with Steven Naismith the man expected to make way. That would leave Leon Osman and James McCarthy with greater license to get forward to support Ross Barkley, Kevin Mirallas and on-fire striker, Romelu Lukaku.

The Blues may have lost their unbeaten record last weekend but they remain on the coat-tails of the Premier League pace-setters, two points off Chelsea in third and four points off the leaders.

Martinez's challenge will be to shore up a defence that has conceded nine goals in the last four matches in all competitions. As unsettling is the fact that the dominant, possession-based approach that the Spaniard has gone to such great lengths to introduce has faltered a little, particularly in the last two games.

Newcastle were allowed to fight their way back into contention of a game that looked well beyond them at the halfway stage three weeks ago while City had the lion's share of the Blues' last outing. The latter scenario was not unexpected but Everton were unusually profligate in possession and correcting that is something the manager will hopefully have focused on over the last couple of weeks.

It will be important given the lack of fear Hull have shown since returning to the top flight after four seasons in the Championship. The Tigers were hammered 5-1 by Everton the last time these two sides met but Martinez will not be expecting them to be such pushovers this time. Since losing to City away, Steve Bruce's side are unbeaten and they showed tremendous pluck and resolve to come back from 2-1 down to beat Newcastle at St James's Park in their last game on the road.

With none of the six teams above playing each other, Everton will be hoping for some of their rivals to slip up, allowing them to move back into the top four if they can get the victory that their superiority suggests they should.

» Read more


About these ads

© ToffeeWeb