Venue: St. James’ Park
Date: 15/03/2015
Kick-off: 16:00 (BST)
It will be a battle between two struggling sides when Everton play hosts to Newcastle United at Goodison Park on Sunday and the match can be seen as a must win for both teams.
Everton’s curious season continues after the Toffees managed a wonderful a 2-1 victory over Dynamo Kiev in the Europa League. In a far cry to their fine form in Europe though, Everton simply cannot seem to buy a win in the Premier League at the moment and manager Roberto Martinez has recently admitted that relegation remains a distinct possibility for his side.
Therefore, Everton desperately need to claim a victory in the Premier League in order to avoid getting dragged into the relegation mire but it will most certainly not be easy as they square off against Newcastle United, who are also desperate to claim a victory.
Everton Team News
Martinez will be without key man Gareth Barry in the middle of the park as the midfielder picked up a two match suspension for earning a 10th booking of the season against Stoke City last time out while the participation of Aiden McGeady and Kevin Mirallas is also in doubt as the duo are struggling with knocks. Tony Hibbert and Steven Pienaar remain long term absentees and are unlikely to feature on the day.
Tim Howard will be starting in goal once again while Everton have been boosted by the return of Leighton Baines from injury. The return of Baines means that he will slot in at left back alongside the likes of Phil Jagielka, Antolin Alcaraz and Seamus Coleman.
In midfield, Muhamed Besic should replace the suspended Gareth Barry but Darron Gibson also provides an option for Martinez to choose from. James McCarthy is a certain starter for Everton while in the absence of Mirallas and McGeady, Aaron Lennon and Christian Atsu look the likely duo to start on the wings.
Steven Naismith will be competing with Ross Barkley for a berth in the role behind the striker, who is set to be Romelu Lukaku.
Teams
Everton (Probable XI): Howard; Baines, Alcaraz, Jagielka, Coleman; Lennon, McCarthy, Besic, Naismith, Atsu; Lukaku
Newcastle United (Probable XI): Krul; Taylor, Williamson, Coloccini, Janmaat; Ameobi, Sissoko, Colback, Cabella; Perez, Riviere
Form
Everton: D W L L W
Newcastle United: D D L W L
Prediction
With both teams heading into the game in bit of a slump, it is very difficult to predict which side will come out on top on the day.
Everton are on a high after their midweek in Europe but they tend to struggle in the Premier League following their European exertions while Newcastle United’s away form in recent times has been simply atrocious – winning only one game in their last ten attempts.
As a result, it is not easy to place a favourite ahead of the clash. In terms of the head to head record between the two sides, Everton seem to have the edge as they have won four of their last five meetings against Newcastle United in the Premier League.
While it will not be easy, Everton enjoy a good record against Newcastle and allied by the fact that the Toffees boast home advantage – Roberto Martinez’s men should be able to edge out a victory.
Everton 2-1 Newcastle United
