Sean Dyche’s Everton host Marco Silva’s Fulham at Goodison Park as both teams look to start the new season on a high.
Dyche’s Toffees begin this season looking to build upon a 17th-placed finish last season, whilst Fulham are looking to enjoy another mid-table finish.
Team News
Dominic Calvert-Lewin is a doubt for Everton due to fitness issues after he endured a injury-hit campaign last season.
Dele Alli (hip), Dwight McNeil (ankle) and Seamus Coleman (knee) are ruled out.
James Tarkowski and Arnaut Danjuma are both available after overcoming knocks suffered during pre-season.
Ashley Young and Youssef Chermiti are set for their competitive bow as Everton players.
Fulham could be without Andreas Pereira due to fitness issues during pre-season as he continued to recover from an ankle injury, which he suffered in late April during a home loss to Manchester City.
Joao Palhinha (shoulder) and Tom Cairney (buttock) are both ruled out.
Calvin Bassey and Raul Jimenez are looking to make their comepetitive debuts for Fulham, having joined from Ajax and Wolves respectively last month.
When is Kick-Off?
Everton host Fulham in a 3pm BST kick-off at Goodison Park on Saturday 11 August, untelevised in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Everton have won just one of their last five meetings against Fulham (W1, D1, L3)
- Fulham have won just two of their 16 previous Premier League visits to Goodison Park (W2, L14).
- Four of Fulham’s last five goals away to Everton have been scored after half time (W2).
- Neal Maupay was the only Everton player to score more than once in pre-season, having netted in wins over Stade Nyonnais and Monza.
- Fulham failed to keep a clean sheet during pre-season (W2, L2).
Prediction
After having scraped their way to survival on the final day of last season, Everton certainly haven’t exactly made much progress this summer in terms of reinforcement despite going unbeaten in pre-season, which is a worry following the departues of Asmir Begovic, Yerry Mina and Tom Davies.
Chermiti meanwhile needs to bring serious firepower despite having only played one season at senior level for Sporting Lisbon, otherwise I can see Everton facing another season of misery with struggles for goals but Dyche should shore up their defence a bit with a full pre-season under their belt.
Fulham likewise have been light on their transfer business this summer but are in a more solid place in terms of quality, with Jimenez looking a decent back-up to Aleksandr Mitrovic in a team which otherwise should look at another steady season.
Turning to this match at hand, Everton need to take their pre-season form into this game and play clinically because if Fulham turn up and play quality attacking football, I just don’t see the Toffees having much to stop the Cottagers from taking the win.
Prediction: Everton 0-2 Fulham
Result: Everton 0-1 Fulham