Everton host Newcastle United at Goodison Park on Thursday in an encounter with huge implications at both ends of the Premier League table.
The weekend's action saw Newcastle take a big step towards Champions League qualification, while Everton slipped further into trouble.
Match preview
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While a goalless draw at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace ended a brief losing run for Everton, it failed to stop them from slipping into the bottom three.
After showing such promising signs when Sean Dyche first arrived as manager, with three wins at Goodison early in his time in charge, Everton are now winless in five matches.
Leicester City's win on Saturday means Everton enter the midweek set of fixtures in 18th, and they could be 19th by the time they play on Thursday.
Even though nine clubs are still in the mix at the bottom, it appears that the bottom five are starting to be left behind, as there is a four-point gap between 15th and 16th with just six games to go.
Despite defeat to Fulham in their last outing here at home, Everton will be glad to be back on Merseyside, after another failure to take three points on the road in the capital on Saturday extended their winless away run to 14 games.
That record puts even more pressure on their home games, and their next two could hardly be any tougher, with in-form Newcastle and an unstoppable Manchester City up next for the Toffees here.
Everton will look to take enthusiasm from their home fixture with Newcastle last season, which also took place on a Thursday night and saw them grab an unlikely three points with 10 men, following Alex Iwobi's 99th-minute winner.
They find themselves in a similar predicament again this season, with a win essentially being a necessity, but that being their only win over the Magpies in six attempts leaves room for caution.
Meanwhile, Newcastle could not have prepared any better for this trip down to Merseyside after thrashing Tottenham Hotspur 6-1 on Sunday.
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An unbelievable start to proceedings which saw Newcastle go 5-0 up after 21 minutes left every onlooker in complete disbelief.
It was the first time Newcastle had netted six goals in a Premier League game since beating Norwich City 6-2 back in 2015.
After Eddie Howe's side suffered a blip during February, they are back in great form once again and look likely to claim a top four spot come the end of the season.
Six wins from seven games have moved them six points clear of Spurs while still having a game in hand, with their only defeat in that time coming at Aston Villa in their last away outing.
An encouraging stat is that Newcastle have not lost back-to-back away games in a year, but they have conceded in their last six on the road, despite still having the league's best defensive record.
Their record at Goodison is not promising though, as last season's late defeat extended a run which has seen them win only once in their last 10 visits, and that victory came behind closed doors in 2021.
Team News
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Dominic Calvert-Lewin made his long-awaited return to the Everton starting lineup last weekend following two-and-a-half months out.
The 26-year-old should start once more as the sole striker, and Calvert-Lewin has an impressive career record over Newcastle, netting five in seven meetings, as well as teeing up Iwobi for the winner in this fixture last season.
Another big boost for the Toffees will be the return of Abdoulaye Doucoure after he served his three-match ban following the red card received against Spurs.
After missing the last two Everton matches with injury, Amadou Onana could also return in the centre of midfield.
Mason Holgate will be suspended after he was sent off late on in Saturday's 0-0 draw with Palace, and with Seamus Coleman expected to remain out, Nathan Patterson is likely to come in at right-back.
Newcastle's Fabian Schar will face a late fitness test after he tweaked his hamstring in the big win over Spurs at the weekend.
Allan Saint-Maximin is unlikely to feature after Howe revealed this fixture may just come too soon for the Frenchman.
Callum Wilson has an excellent record against Everton having scored six in his last five meetings with the Toffees, meaning Howe will have a decision to make whether to opt for him, for Alexander Isak, or for both.
Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Patterson, Keane, Tarkowski, Mykolenko; Iwobi, Onana, Gueye, Doucoure, McNeil; Calvert-Lewin
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Willock, Bruno Guimaraes, Longstaff; Murphy, Wilson, Joelinton
We say: Everton 0-2 Newcastle United
Despite the return of Calvert-Lewin, Everton remain a very feeble side in attack and may struggle to penetrate what has been such a strong Newcastle defence this season.
The visitors will be extremely confident of taking all three points against an out-of-form side to show their top four credentials.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Andrew Delaney
