Everton look to put right a few poor performances when they face Crystal Palace on
Saturday. The 3 o’clock kick-off will be refereed by Simon Hooper.
The Toffees face Patrick Vieira’s South London outfit for the first time since that memorable
3-2 victory at the back end of last season. I’m sure we all remember, but the game saw
Everton go 2-0 down in the first half, before goals from Michael Keane and Richarlison put
us on level terms, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored a late header to secure all three points
and Premier League survival.
A lot has changed since that historic day, but first a look at the visitors. They currently sit
11 th in the table, having picked up 13 points from ten games. They are three points ahead of
the blues, who sit in 15 th .
Wilfried Zaha is enjoying a good start to the season, having already scored five and assisting
one. Palace have a very exciting team for the neutral viewer, which includes French starlet
Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze, who reportedly is on Gareth Southgate’s radar for the
upcoming winter World Cup.
Young midfielder Cheick Doucoure looked very impressive in the Eagles’ most recent
performance, a victory against struggling Wolves. Behind him in defence, Joachim Andersen
and Marc Guehi evidently have formed a brilliant partnership, conceding 13 goals this
season.
Crystal Palace are much better at home than they are away, but undoubtedly will fancy their
chances against a struggling Everton side.
Looking at the hosts, Everton lost out narrowly in their last game against Newcastle to a
Miguel Almiron curler. Although, the game was there for the taking, Everton looked
toothless and recorded just one shot all game – off target.
Frank Lampard would have hoped the returning Calvert-Lewin could offer more of an
attacking threat but struggled to get into the game and made way early for Neal Maupay.
Defensively, Everton continue to look very strong. James Tarkowski and Conor Coady have
formed a brilliant relationship on and off the pitch and is clear for all to see the quality that
the pair possess.
However, Scotsman Nathan Patterson has been a huge miss at right back, and Seamus
Coleman whilst defensively solid has struggled to offer any of the attacking prowess Everton
had down the right flank beforehand.
Fortunately, Frank Lampard confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Patterson was
back training with the first team, with a view to being available next week against Fulham.
Also nearing a return is Ben Godfrey, also set to return to training properly next week.
Yerry Mina is still a while away from making a return, as well as Andros Townsend who are
both set to be side-lined likely until after the World Cup. James Garner picked up some more minutes against Newcastle last week and again looked like he was ready to start – it can only be a matter of time until he gets his chance from the beginning.
It would be premature to say there’s pressure mounting on Lampard, but there is an air
around Everton that these next three games are very important, and very winnable. Three
points is a must, up the toffees.