Newcastle v Everton: 5 talking points ahead of the game

Everton must keep the positivity from the weekend going as competition for places hots up

5. Don’t lose the momentum from the weekend

Goodison Park was alive on Saturday and that momentum must be taken up to St James’ Park for the clash with Newcastle. With the away fans up in the clouds in that far corner of the stand behind the goal the atmosphere will be somewhat different to the weekend.

Lampard will have instructed his coaching team and players to not let the pace and positive nature of football slip even during training yesterday.

To be fair the inclusion of Alli, Van de Beek and a fit again Calvert-Lewin would have boosted everyone anyway. It showed on Saturday when players looked like they knew others could take there starting place.

That has been the theme all the way through this piece, suddenly Everton have options and it will take Lampard a little time to figure out his best to get Everton up the table. Benitez seemed to struggle to see any other options and blamed injuries for Everton’s collapse in form.

You won’t get that attitude from Lampard, he knows being positive and working together is the way to get Everton going. It was noticeable in his post match interview from the weekend he again noted what Evertonians like to see when they watch their team play. Front foot football, not letting the opposition settle and making sure everyone is being committed to the job in hand.

That has to continue this week and at Newcastle, he possibly will see what many of his players are really made of. Holgate, Keane and Gomes especially have struggled under recent regimes to be confident and consistent, now we get the chance to see if it is them or whether a more forward thinking and positive manager gets better performances every game.

It is a vital game at Newcastle, but it is more important for them than us. However, it really would be a perfect start for Lampard if he was to get three points up on Tyneside and give breathing room between Everton and the bottom three.

Evertonians will be intrigued to see the outcome, but they are certainly in a more positive frame of mind for this game than two weeks ago and that little corner in the clouds will be heard loud and clear on Tuesday night.

Will Everton manage to win the game against Newcastle United?