Seeking to extend their unbeaten Premier League run to five matches, Everton welcome Fulham to Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon.
The two teams butt heads for the first time since January when they played out a goalless stalemate at Craven Cottage.
Match preview
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After beginning the 2024-25 campaign with four successive defeats, conceding 12 goals in the process, Everton have since turned a corner under Sean Dyche and have picked up eight points from their last four Premier League matches.
The Toffees held Newcastle United to a 0-0 draw in their final game prior to the international break before returning to winning ways last weekend when they beat newly-promoted Ipswich Town 2-0 at Portman Road courtesy of first-half goals from Iliman Ndiaye and Michael Keane.
Dyche was full of praise for his team's "very strong performance", keeping a second successive clean sheet and preventing Ipswich from registering a single shot on target until the 80th minute, and his side currently sit 16th in the Premier League table, five points above the relegation zone.
Everton have made a habit of turning their fortunes around in the month of October, as they have collected an average of 1.55 points per game in this month since the start of the 2022-23 campaign compared to only 0.75 points picked up on average between August and September; they have also kept six clean sheets in their last seven league games in October.
Their form at home to Fulham has taken a nosedive, though, as they have lost each of their last three league encounters with the Cottagers at Goodison Park, having previously boasted an impressive 27-game unbeaten run (W23 D4) between 1949 and 2018, winning each of the last 22 of those.
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Fulham entered the international break earlier this month after picking up 11 points during an impressive five-game unbeaten run, but their progress has since been halted by back-to-back defeats against Manchester City and Aston Villa.
After putting up a fight in a 3-2 defeat at Man City, the Cottagers let a one-goal lead slip to lose 3-1 at home to Aston Villa last weekend, with Raul Jimenez's early opener cancelled out by strikes from Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins, before Issa Diop's own goal - netted just five minutes after Joachim Andersen's red card - sealed maximum points for the visitors.
Sitting 10th in the Premier League table and only three points behind the top six, Fulham are now gearing up for a "tough" trip to Everton, with head coach Marco Silva looking forward to returning to "a special place" in Goodison Park where he was in charge for 19 months.
The Cottagers have enjoyed their recent meetings with Everton, as they have won three - all away from home - and drawn two of their last five games, keeping four clean sheets in the process.
Fulham will be keen to make another fast start on Saturday; they have scored first in each of their last five Premier League games, but they have lost their last two. Only six teams in Premier League history have lost three consecutive games when scoring first, most recently Sheffield United in April and May of last season.
Team News
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Everton trio Tim Iroegbunam, Youssef Chermiti and Armando Broja are all still sidelined with foot injuries, while James Garner is also ruled out and will have a back problem assessed by a specialist.
However, Dyche has confirmed that Jarrad Branthwaite and Jesper Lindstrom will both be included in his matchday squad on Saturday - the former has recovered from a thigh injury and the latter is available after missing last weekend's game though illness.
Abdoulaye Doucoure and Idrissa Gueye are expected to link arms in centre-midfield, with in-form playmaker Dwight McNeil operating in the number 10 role, while Ndiaye and Jack Harrison should provide support from wide areas for central striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
As for Fulham, Sasa Lukic (shoulder) and Timothy Castagne (hamstring) are both injured, while Jorge Cuenca (ankle) and Carlos Vinicius (calf) will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Joachim Andersen will serve a one-match suspension after being sent off against Aston Villa, so Issa Diop is expected to deputise in central defence alongside Calvin Bassey.
Raul Jimenez has scored three goals in his last four Premier League appearances and is expected to continue up front, with support to be provided in the final third by Adama Traore, Emile Smith Rowe and ex-Toffees winger Alex Iwobi.
Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford, Young, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko; Gueye, Doucoure; Harrison, McNeil, Ndiaye; Calvert-Lewin
Fulham possible starting lineup:
Leno; Tete, Diop, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Pereira; Traore, Smith Rowe, Iwobi; Muniz
We say: Everton 1-1 Fulham
Fulham's recent record at Goodison Park bodes well ahead of Saturday's fixture, but Everton have impressed in the last few weeks and could frustrate the Cottagers this time around.
A closely-fought contest could be on the cards on Merseyside and with little to separate these two teams, we feel that the spoils will be shared on this occasion.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
