Everton meet Crystal Palace at Goodison Park in a huge clash in the race for Premier League survival.
Victory or a draw would see Everton move out of the relegation zone at Luton’s expense, whilst Palace can climb to 14th with a win.
Team News
Ben Godfrey is set to feature for Everton after he was substituted in their defeat at Man City due to illness.
Abdoulaye Doucoure (hamstring) could be available but Arnaut Danjuma (ankle), Andre Gomes (calf) and Dele Alli (hip) remain absent.
Palace have no fresh injury concerns to report after their defeat to Chelsea but Marc Guehi is close to a return from a knee injury, although it is unclear if he will be risked here after the club’s press conference was cancelled due to manager – Roy Hodgson being taken ill.
Michael Olise, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, Joel Ward, Eberechi Eze (all hamstring), Rob Holding (ankle) and Cheick Docoure (Achilles) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Everton face Palace at Goodison Park on Monday 19 February at 8pm GMT, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Everton have lost one of their last six league meetings against Palace (W3, D2, L1).
- Palace are winless in their last eight league visits to Everton (D3, L5).
- Everton have scored three goals in three of their last four home matches against Palace.
- Sean Dyche’s Toffees are looking to avoid going eight league matches without a win for the first time since October 2022 – January 2023.
- Palace have conceded first in each of their last six away matches in the Premier League (D2, L4).
Prediction
Despite a resilient defensive performance at the Etihad Stadium, Everton were always destined to lose to Man City but they now need to take heart from how stubborn they were to break down, whilst showing more end product in their attack than they managed across several opportunties.
Palace meanwhile will hopefully come out and show the fight which they produced in the first half against Chelsea, before defensive errors cost them in the second half but this is a chance to show their unity by getting the win for Hodgson amidst rumours he is set to step down.
Everton however seem to have the measure of Palace at home but their two FA Cup meetings last month were scrappy, so I do expect similar and wouldn’t be surprised if both teams are initially cagey and try not to concede which could well lead to a stalemate the longer it wears on.
Doucoure’s return however is well-timed for Everton because this is a chance for them to move out of the relegation zone, and I do fancy them to take that chance no matter what Palace throw at them.
Prediction: Everton 1-0 Crystal Palace
Result: Everton 1-1 Crystal Palace
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