Match Preview
Everton hope to keep building on their recent good form when they take on former boss Marco Silva and Fulham under the lights in the early-evening kick-off this Saturday.
The Blues are on a four-match unbeaten run, have put some distance between themselves and the bottom three, and victory over Fulham this weekend would bring them level on points with the Cottagers ahead of back-to-back away games against Southampton and West Ham Utd.
It is expected that Jarrad Branthwaite will return to the starting XI for this one having been primed to make his return from a minor quad injury when Everton travelled to Ipswich last weekend.
However, with Michael Keane and good form at the back and contributing wonder goals at the other end of the pitch, it is by no means guaranteed that the young defender walks back into the starting XI.
Indeed, few changes are anticipated by Dyche who prefers a consistent line-up when the majority of his players are fit and that will likely see Ashley Young continue at right-back at the expense of Nathan Patterson and Abdoulaye Doucouré keep his place in midfield alongside Idrissa Gueye.
Jesper Lindstrøm is available again now both he and Beto are over their illnesses but Jack Harrison can be confident of his retaining his right-wing berth with the rest of the front four unchanged.
Having had such an awful record at Goodison Park for the best part of 60 years, Fulham have become something of a bogey team for Everton of late, on winning each of their last three visits to L4 in the Premier League and triumphing in the last eight of the Carabao Cup in that disappointing penalty shootout last December.
They have also found some form of their own after a mixed start to the season, beating Newcastle Utd at Craven Cottage a month ago and winning at the City Ground before giving champions Manchester City a scare at the Etihad Stadium earlier this month.
Silva’s side took the lead and threatened to deny City a point when Rodrigo Muniz made it 3-2 late on and they demonstrated their attacking threat throughout.
Raul Jimenez is back in goalscoring form, Adama Traoré’s pace and power is an ever-present danger even if his end product isn’t always reliable, Antonee Robinson offers offensive production down the left flank, and both Emile Smith Rowe and former Blue Alex Iwobi are creative outlets behind the striker.
All have the potential to hurt Everton on the day but Fulham’s defence can be vulnerable and it will be without one of its first-choice starters in the form of Joachim Andersen who is suspended for the trip to Goodison.
With the pressure off now that Dyche appears to be righting the ship after Everton’s poor start to the campaign, this is an opportunity to play with a bit of freedom, express themselves, and establish their mid-table credentials.
Fulham will provide tricky opposition but, if the Toffees play to their potential in all departments, there’s no reason why they can’t record a second successive victory in the Premier League for the first time in 2024-25.
Kick-off: 5:30 pm, Saturday 26 October 2024
Referee: John Brooks
VAR: Stuart Attwell
Last Time: Everton 0 – 1 Fulham
Predicted Line-up: Pickford, Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Gueye, Doucouré, Harrison, Ndiaye, McNeil, Calvert-Lewin