Venue: Goodison Park
Date: 30/09/2016
Kick-off: 20:00 (BST)
Everton prepare to square off against Crystal Palace at Goodison Park in their first ever Friday night Premier League encounter and the Toffees will surely be keen on claiming a victory from the encounter following their disappointment of last week.
Everton’s unbeaten start to the Premier League came to an abrupt end after they suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Bournemouth on Saturday and given the disappointing performance from the Toffees on the day, manager Ronald Koeman could have no complaints whatsoever regarding the result.
That being said though, Koeman most certainly would not have been pleased at all with how is side performed against Bournemouth and he will surely be looking for a response when an in-form Crystal Palace pay a visit on Friday night.
Everton Team News
The likes of Muhamed Besic, Tyias Browning, Darron Gibson, James McCarthy and Matthew Pennington remain ruled out for Everton while even Leighton Baines has been rated as a doubt.
With Baines likely to miss out, Bryan Oviedo should start in the left-back position alongside the regular backline consisting of the likes of Phil Jagielka, Ashley Williams, Seamus Coleman and goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg.
McCarthy remains ruled out and this means that Gareth Barry and Idrissa Gueye will continue their impressive partnership at the middle of the park while the attacking positions in midfield should be a occupied by Kevin Mirallas, Ross Barkley and Yannick Bolasie, who will be keen on impressing against his former club.
Romelu Lukaku did not enjoy the best of outings against Bournemouth last time out and he will surely be looking to make amends this time around against Palace.
Probable Lineups
Everton (Probable XI): Stekelenburg; Oviedo, Jagielka, Williams, Coleman; Barry, Gueye; Mirallas, Barkley, Bolasie; Lukaku
Crystal Palace (Probable XI): Mandanda; Kelly, Delaney, Tomkins, Ward; Cabaye, McArthur, Zaha, Townsend, Puncheon; Benteke
Last Meeting
13/04/2016 Crystal Palace 0 – 0 Everton
07/12/2015 Everton 1 – 1 Crystal Palace
Prediction
Matches between Everton and Crystal Palace have tended to be close affairs in recent times and the clash on Friday should prove to be no different.
Palace are currently on a fantastic run of three consecutive victories while even Everton are in a decent run, barring their blip against Bournemouth last week.
The clash should prove to be a very closely contested battle but Everton perhaps have the edge due to home advantage and they should be able to claim a narrow victory on the night.
Everton 2-1 Crystal Palace
