As the euphoria of Wednesday’s mad 5-4 win over Tottenham subsides Everton prepare to take on struggling Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday evening.
The Cottagers will not be relishing a trip to Goodison Park as incredibly the west London side have never beaten Everton at the grand old lady in league football, although one of their two cup wins came on Valentines Day in 1948 so maybe history might repeat itself on Sunday!
And if the Toffees have their shooting boots on again as they did on Wednesday they will be even less likely to look forward to the trip.
However, while the home team did score eight goals in their last two matches against Manchester United and Spurs they also conceded seven as well.
Going forward the Blues will need to defend better particularly at set-plays than they did on Wednesday although that’s not a particular strength of Fulham.
The Toffees defensive vulnerabiltiy is a significant issue and one that manager Carlo Ancelotti has to wrestle with and solve.
I’ve said I think that Ancelotti needs to restore the solid defensive line-up that has served him and the Toffees so well over the past few months.
There are some real positives to talk about as well. Tom Davies was outstanding in the win over Spurs and at the time of writing with Allan still uncertain to be fit and ready to return, he can hopefully continue providing that defensive cover in central midfield.
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Another big positive was the return to form of Richarlison. The Brazilian has been badly out of sorts in recent weeks and his lack of goals and indifferent performances have been a concern.
On Wednesday he came back strongly scoring twice with two excellent finishes.
It was the Richarlison of old and his timing couldn’t have been better with Dominic Calvert-Lewin going off with what looked like a hamstring strain.
Ancelotti indicated that he doesn’t think Calvert-Lewin was seriously injured but it’s likely that Richarlison might well start up front as centre-forward.
The Italian also indicated that new signing Josh King could well get a first start for the Blues. He will probably play in Richarlison’s position then assuming the Brazil star goes up front.
Fulham have a danger man up front in a former Toffees player Ademola Lookman. The former Charlton youngster whose Everton career stalled badly following his hugely expensive move to Goodison Park, has been playing well for the Cottagers and was a threat in the game at Craven Cottage earlier this season.
I would expect Everton to win this match given history and the difference in form and quality between the teams. But then we thought that more or less about Newcastle United and they didn’t stick to the script defeating a lacklustre Toffees side.