Must win match for Everton to get season back on track
Everton travel to west London on Sunday for a game against Fulham that they really must win to get their faltering season back on track.
The Premier League returns this weekend and Everton face a fixture from which they need all three points to steady the ship after three consecutive defeats before the international break.
The Toffees season has been unraveling since the end of the last set of international games with an acrimonious Merseyside derby draw followed by those losses to Southampton, Newcastle United and then Manchester United.
Having finished the first month of the season sitting pretty at the top of the table, the Blues have now slumped to seventh and are in freefall.
So a game against a struggling Fulham side ten places lower, that has lost four of their last six matches and conceded more goals than Everton, (although in fact only one more!) is probably just about as good as it gets to give the Toffees a chance to bounce back.
In fact though the Cottagers recent form is better. They’ve actually managed to win a game in the last month, something Everton failed to do.
The Blues do have a good overall record against Fulham and the Cottagers have never beaten Everton at Goodison Park. This game though is in London, never usually a happy hunting ground for the Toffees, although they did win there two matches ago in March 2014.
Fulham have plenty of incentive themselves as they desperately need points to get away from the relegation zone, which already has an ominously settled look to it. They also have a player in their ranks with a strong personal incentive to do well: Ademola Lookman having brought him back to England this summer.
Lookman of course was signed by Ronald Koeman for a huge fee as a teenager playing in the lower leagues when he joined Everton for £11 million in January 2017.
It didn’t work out for him at Goodison Park and after a time with RB Leipzig in Germany, he’s back in English football and will have plenty to prove against his former team.
Another player Everton have to watch is centre-forward Aleksander Mitrovic. The Serbian striker is a dangerous customer and an excellent finisher who’s strong in the air, not an area where the Blues are overly solid defensively!
He has already bagged five goals and two assists this season. In fact it’s a little surprising he hasn’t been snapped up by another more established Premier League side by now. I actually think he’d fit the mold for what the Toffees need to augment their goal-scoring options.
As for the Blues there is some good news surrounding injuries as it looks as though both their Brazilians who were injury doubts – Allan and Richarlison – will be fit to play on Sunday. The question is how sharp will they and the Toffees other South American star, James Rodriguez be, after their knocks and international excursions.
More from Prince Rupert's Tower
- Everton 0 Arsenal 1: Blues fall to third home defeat
- Further chaos in Everton takeover as other lenders not keen on 777 Partners
- Everton need repeat of Arsenal win to kick-start their season on Sunday
- More madness at Everton as Moshiri now agrees to sell club to 777 Partners
- Everton takeover talk cools after UK govt doubts and further questions
On the downside Seamus Coleman isn’t going to make it and so Carlo Ancelotti has a decision to make about who plays right-back.
With Allan fit to play in centre-mid, I would go with Mason Holgate there rather than Ben Godfrey. Holgate has more experience playing full-back and Godfrey looked a little unsure of himself when he last filled in.
If he goes for that I’d like to see Godfrey given a chance in his more natural position of centre-back alongside Michael Keane.
Both teams concede plenty of goals so this doesn’t look like a low-scoring 1-0 type game, although saying that means it probably will be!
But whoever Ancelotti picks and whatever formation he goes with, it feels important that Everton get all three points in this one and arrest their losing streak straight away.