Fulham visit first of critical coming games for Everton

Everton have a favourable run of fixtures coming up after the win at Portman road, with Saturday's match followed by trips to Southampton and then West Ham United before yet another international break.

While none of these games are a given by any means (especially with this team!) they do present the Toffees with a really good opportunity to pull themselves clear of the drop zone.

Another six or even seven points say from these next thee matches would put Everton in a much stronger position going into that break

Manager Sean Dyche had some good news in his pre-match press conference with most importantly Jarrad Branthwaite back in contention to start after being held back last weekend.

Several other players are still absent but overall Dyche has near a fully-fit squad to pick from.

Meanwhile, the visitors are travelling to Merseyside without several of their key players as the Cottagers are missing

Joachim Anderson, Timothy Castagne and Sasa Lukic are all likely to be absent from the team that Marco Silva will pick to face Everton tomorrow afternoon.

The former Blues boss though still has a decent squad to select from and players such as Raul Jimenez and ex-Everton star Alex Iwobi have been in solid form.

Fulham started the season well and were unbeaten in seven of their first eight games of the campaign before recent defeats at Manchester City and then Aston Villa.

Silva has a good record against the Toffees since taking over at Craven Cottage and will be hoping to continue it with this last visit to his former home at Goodison Park

Everton need to start fast and take control of the game from the start and not allow their opponents to get an early foothold.

And the home team need to take their chances and not squander them as they nearly did at Ipswich Town last weekend.

Winning tomorrow's match is also especially important as it is the last home game before those two trips to Southampton and West Ham.