The last time that Everton and Brentford played one another, the Toffees were about to start in on a rather poor run of form at home.
In some ways, that began with the 4-2 loss to the Bees, who took the lead within the first quarter of an hour of the match via the opener from striker Igor Thiago. The goal came after a poor clearance by Everton center back James Tarkowski, with Vitaly Janelt picking off the pass and whipping in the cross for Thiago to finish.
The visitors would score twice more in the first six miniutes of the second half, via Nathan Collins (again assisted by Janelt) and Thiago securing his second just a minute later.
While Everton would eventually get a goal each from Beto and Thierno Barry, Thiago earned his hat trick in between those scores for the home side, making both Blues' goals feel more like consolations.
The Brentford striker has been terrorizing the Premier League this season, scoring 19 goals on an xG of 17.51 in the league, suggesting the Brazilian is making the most of his opportunities. Although the hat trick at Hill Dickinson was his only one of the campaign, he has also logged four braces this year.
All of that means that Everton's defenders will have to pay close attention to Thaigo's movement, making sure not to lose him in the box, where he's a lethal finisher.
David Moyes will hope he can use his first-choice center back pairing of Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite in this matchup, with the latter particularly useful given that he was still out recovering from his hamstring surgery when the two sides met in January.
Adding Branthwaite's pace to the proceedings should help to deal with Thiago a little better, who also runs quite well for a man of his size, and the battle between those two will be something to pay attention to throughout Saturday's match.
Brentford manager Keith Andrews is expected to be without Rico Henry, Josh Dasilva, Fabio Carvalho, and Antoni Milambo, with Janelt, Mikkel Damsgaard, and Aaron Hickey possibly still working their way back from injuries.
While this will certainly weaken the Bees' side, it doesn't take away from the quality of work that Thaigo, who is just three goals behind Erling Haaland in the Premier League Golden Boot race coming into this weekend's matches, has done this season.
Keeping the striker in check may be the difference between a loss and gaining points for Everton on Saturday.