Roberto Martinez returns to his old hunting ground on Saturday afternoon when Everton take on Swansea City in South Wales.
The Toffees have made an impressive start to their campaign, and could end the weekend inside the Premier League's top four if results go their way.
Swansea City
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Speaking ahead of his side's trip to Watford last time out, Swans boss Garry Monk challenged his players to 'turn a good start into a great one' by claiming maximum points.
A subsequent 1-0 reverse at Vicarage Road, their first loss of the campaign, has therefore dented what had otherwise been a near-perfect opening month to the season.
Expectation levels still remain high among supporters, though, despite Monk's best attempts to play down the prospect of challenging for a place inside the top six come May.
Key to their strong showing throughout August was the form of striker Bafetimbi Gomis, who scored in four successive games to spearhead the Swans' charge into the higher echelons of the division.
The Frenchman revealed this week that he still entertains hopes of running out for France at Euro 2016 on home soil next summer, and his nine goals in 11 outings at club level is certainly not a bad way to go about things.
There is one worrying aspect for Gomis and Swansea, however, which has seen them win just three of their previous 15 fixtures in the month of September.
When factoring in that nine of these games have been lost, combined with the fact that three of last season's top seven lie in wait before the month is out, it could potentially be a difficult period for the Welsh outfit.
Yet Swansea have shown plenty of times in the past - not least already this season - that they are made of tough stuff, with key players down the spine of the side ready to stand up and be counted following their first real setback of the term away at Watford.
Recent form in Premier League: DWDWL
Recent form (all competitions): DWDWWL
Everton
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Following a hugely underwhelming season last time around, Martinez has managed to make enough alterations over the summer to turn Everton back into potential top-four candidates once again.
It is still early on in the season, of course, and much will happen in the coming months, but the 3-1 win over Chelsea underlines that the Toffees are in a far better shape now than they were just a few months ago.
Everton are no longer afraid to regularly hit the ball long to towering Belgian Romelu Lukaku up top, while Ross Barkley appears to have been given some additional freedom to take on opponents once again.
There was also the added boost of keeping hold of John Stones during the summer, getting one over on Chelsea by refusing to bow to the champions' numerous high-profile bids.
Just as important as any of this, though - according to Martinez, at least - is the luxury of being able to focus solely on the Premier League, rather than being distracted by a drawn-out Europa League campaign like 12 months ago.
The irony of all this is that the Merseyside club will be among the sides battling it out for a place in Europe's secondary competition, which often provides just as many drawbacks as it does positives.
Following the win over an out-of-sorts Chelsea, Everton are now going in search of back-to-back victories for the first time this season. Their record may appear somewhat inconsistent, but difficult fixtures against Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and indeed Chelsea have certainly not helped with momentum.
Two more tough games await in the coming month when Liverpool and Manchester United visit Goodison Park, but prior to that Martinez can add points to the board - starting with the trip to former side Swansea this weekend.
Recent form in Premier League: DWLDW
Recent form (all competitions): DWLWDW
Team News
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Monk revealed in his pre-match press conference that he expects to have a fully-fit squad to choose from, but changes could still be made.
Having named an unchanged side for the trip to North London last weekend, Monk may throw silky winger Jefferson Montero back into the first-team fold.
Wayne Routledge would be the likely victim if that was to be the case, while Ki Sung-yueng is also battling for a starting spot at the Liberty Stadium.
In terms of the visitors, Martinez has talked highly of deadline-day signing Leandro Rodriguez, but a senior Toffees debut against Reading in the League Cup is a more realistic outlook.
Seamus Coleman and Muhamed Besic are recovering well from their respective injury problems, meanwhile, with both now in a race against time to be declared fit enough to feature.
Elsewhere, Steven Naismith has surely done enough to earn himself a start, having scored three times in the comfortable triumph over last season's top side.
Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Fabianski; Naughton, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor; Cork, Shelvey, Sigurdsson, Ayew, Montero; Gomis
Everton possible starting lineup:
Howard; Coleman, Jagielka, Stones, Galloway; Barry, McCarthy, Naismith, Barkley; Kone, Lukaku
Head To Head
Swansea have won just one of their 23 meetings with Everton in all competitions, losing 15 of those games.
Their only triumph did come in last season's League Cup encounter, however, which certainly provides hope for Saturday afternoon.
The Toffees have conceded just four goals in their eight Premier League clashes with City, with Swansea losing three out of four at the Liberty Stadium.
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Hit play below to see what the Sports Mole Sofa had to say about this encounter:
We say: Swansea City 2-2 Everton
Both sides can be happy with their respective starts to the campaign, but this is a fixture that Swansea tend to struggle in. That said, the Swans looked particularly impressive in their last outing on home soil, which we think will see them earn a battling draw this weekend.
Daniel Lewis
