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Everton v Fulham: a must-win match for Blues?

By Matt Townsend

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 30: Moussa Dembele of Fulham makes a break during the Barclays Premier League match between Fulham and Everton at Craven Cottage on March 30, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by Scott Heavey/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 30: Moussa Dembele of Fulham makes a break during the Barclays Premier League match between Fulham and Everton at Craven Cottage on March 30, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by Scott Heavey/Getty Images) /
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Everton take on Fulham tomorrow in a Premier League game they really need to win.

In a stuttering start to the season Everton have dropped too many points. This was especially the case in games against Wolves and Bournemouth away, when they were leading, and at home to Huddersfield Town.

And in their last two matches against London opposition, the Blues have slipped to a bad defeat at home to West Ham and then couldn’t take their chances after a dominant first half before losing 2-0 at Arsenal last Sunday.

Everton take on another team from the capital tomorrow afternoon when they host Fulham.

Fulham have a miserable record at Goodison Park where they have never won a league game but then West Ham had also traditionally struggled at the grand old lady as well.

The Craven Cottage club have had a mixed time of it since returning to the Premier League this season. They’ve played some fine attacking football but have also conceded quite a lot of goals playing in an open, positive way.

Fulham spent big in the summer in an attempt to ensure they had enough to survive this season and build from there. And they bought in some good players with Premier League experience like Alfie Mawson and Andre Schurrle.

Perhaps inevitably it’s taking time for all the new faces to settle in and so results have fluctuated.

Overall Fulham keep the ball and pass it well and have averaged a decent 14 shots per game with just over 5 on target per match. They’re also good in the air, which should be a worry for Everton given how vulnerable the Blues are defending set-pieces.

Their most dangerous players are striker Alexsander Mitrovic, forward Schurrle and midfield playmaker Tom Cairney. One other player to look out for is Argentine forward Luciano Vietto who has made 3 assists this term.

However Fulham have a tendency to concede and in particular they are letting opponents manage almost 20 shots per game against them.

With Everton themselves playing in a similar way to their opponents, the odds are that we might get a very entertaining match tomorrow with the chance of goals quite high.

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As for the hosts they go into the game with the now usual injury problems. Yerry Mina is still unavailable, (will Blues fans ever get to see him!?), and fellow defenders Seamus Coleman and Phil Jagielka are also out. Other new signing Andre Gomes is also still not fit to make his Toffees debut.

Given their awful record at Goodison and defensive weaknesses, the Toffees ought to win this game, if they can take their chances and avoid individual lapses in concentration at the back.

I’d also like to see a clean sheet too, something that Everton haven’t managed once this season. Is that too much to ask?