Everton welcome Wolves to Goodison Park as both teams chase their first victory of the season.
With both teams sat rock bottom of the table, at least one point could be enough for both teams to move out of the relegation zone if Luton lose elsewhere on Friday evening.
Team News
Alex Iwobi is ruled out for Everton after he suffered a hamstring injury during their defeat at Aston Villa last weekend.
Youssef Chermiti (fitness) and Andre Gomes (calf) face late fitness tests.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (cheekbone), Jack Harrison, Dele Alli (both hip), Dwight McNeil (ankle) and Seamus Coleman (knee) are also ruled out.
Wolves will be without Matheus Nunes after he picked up a red card during their defeat at home to Brighton last weekend.
When is Kick-Off?
Everton welcome Wolves to Goodison Park in a 3pm BST kick-off on Saturday 26 August, untelevised in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Everton have won just two of their last seven meetings against Wolves (W2, D1, L4).
- Wolves have won three of their last five trips to Everton (W3, L2).
- Everton have conceded first in three of their last four meetings against Wolves.
- Sean Dyche’s Toffees have failed to score in their opening two matches this season (L2).
- Wolves have taken just one point from their last five matches (D1, L4), during which they conceded 13 goals and scored twice.
Prediction
After suffering a narrow opening defeat, Everton would of gone to Villa full of confidence that they could of gotten a result yet their defence was just atrocious to put it mildly, before we even get onto their toothless attack which lacked intensity and end product.
Iwobi and Calvert-Lewin’s absences therefore are huge blows to Everton’s attack given that those two are amongst their better players, so others like James Garner and Neal Maupay must start stepping up ASAP.
Wolves meanwhile were purely outclassed by Brighton with some sloppy marking to protect against the Seagulls’ counter-attacks, whilst their end product unfortunately was AWOL despite some positive creative buildup play which they can build upon here.
Throw in the fact that both teams are yet to register a single point and this is an early must-win game in order to kick start their seasons, yet I do favour Wolves to get the win if they can sort out their end product issues because Everton do look weak in attack at present.
Prediction: Everton 0-1 Wolves
Result: Everton 0-1 Wolves