Saturday November 18 (15:00GMT), Selhurst Park
David Unsworth is set to take charge of Everton's crunch trip to play Crystal Palace after the Blues' bid to lure Marco Silva from Watford was rebuffed earlier this week.
Unsworth had been expected to step down for a permanent successor to Ronald Koeman during the international break, but with Everton's search for a manager now likely to drag on for some time yet, the Lancastrian will be afforded at least one more chance to stake his own claim for the role.
It means that the Goodison Park outfit head into the all-important fixture against fellow strugglers Palace with far from ideal preparation under their belts. It's a game they simply cannot afford to lose, and failure to come away from Selhurst Park would see fans lay blame at the club's board.
Bottom of the league and without a win in three matches, performances have slowly improved for opponents Palace under new manager Roy Hodgson. And with key performers Wilfried Zaha and Christian Benteke now back available, the chances of the Eagles pulling clear of relegation over the coming weeks have significantly improved.
They'll see the visit of Everton this weekend as a perfect opportunity to get that bid off the ground once and for all.
For the full length press conference visit #CPFC 🦅
Team news
Hosts Palace have been boosted by the return of last season's top scorer Christian Benteke to first-team training this week following a six-game absence. Yet while the big Belgian has been given the all-clear to play on Saturday, it's almost a given that he will be some way off match fitness at this stage. Manager Hodgson faces a dilemma as to whether to throw him in from the start or ease him in from the bench.
One player who is a huge doubt for the clash is loanee Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who suffered a back complaint while on international duty. The youngster delivered a confident performance on his Three Lions debut last week, but missed training on Thursday and is still being assessed ahead of the visit of the Toffees.
Elsewhere, left-back Patrick van Aanholt remains on the injured list, while veteran Julian Speroni should keep his place in betweent the sticks. Former Liverpool player Mamadou Sakho has helped shore up Palace defence since his return, and the Frenchman is expected to reprise his partnership with Scott Dann at the heart of defence.
Long-term absentees Seamus Coleman, Ross Barkley and Yannick Bolasie are all still on the sidelines for visitors Everton, along with James McCarthy and Ramiro Funes Mori. Tom Davies, though, has fully recovered from a minor hamstring strain that kept him out of England Under-21 duty, and will travel to London with the Toffees.
The big tactical question for Everton heading into the game is whether David Unsworth has learned his lessons from the turnaround against Watford before the international break. Starting with Rooney and Sigurdsson as wide forwards left the Blues short of width and pace- and it was only when substitutes Ademola Lookman and Dominic Calvert-Lewin came on that they finally managed to turn things around. Both players will be pushing for recalls for the trip to the capital, especially if Unsworth opts to adopt a counter-attacking setup.
Morgan Schneiderlin and Kevin Mirallas- both the subject of media speculation in recent weeks- could be reintegrated into the squad after being dropped for the match against Watford. Schneiderlin, in particular, was praised by Unsworth for training well in the build-up to Saturday's game, and is the likelier of the two to feature.
Coyb lets win tomorow 💪🏼💪🏼
What they said
Roy Hodgson: "Every period is a crucial period, I see the task ahead of us as a week to week task and I don't rank opponents in the same way you [journalists] do. When you're not doing very well it's easier to play the top teams. I understand why people talk about it, but it makes no sense to me from a professional point of view [saying this is a crucial period against teams at the bottom].
"Unfortunately it's something that's impossible to debate, we know a win will be very, very good for us and help us enormously. Knowing that and wanting the victory doesn't give it to us.
"What worries me about statistics about a team who hasn't won away is that they will win away at some point and the only thing that can stop that is Crystal Palace. There's no way a team like Everton will go a long period of time without winning away from home."
David Unsworth: "I’m thrilled to still be in charge. It’s a great honour. There was never any set amount of games or time said to me at the beginning.
“I’ve spoken to the chairman, Bill Kenwright, everyday since I’ve been in this role. I’ve spoken to Farhad Moshiri a couple of times. The communication is fine. What will be, will be. I'm keen to do my best for the club. If that's sat here, brilliant. If that's with the Under-23s, brilliant.
"Palace is another big game, crucial. They've got some good players and it'll be tough- but I think we can pose them some problems as well. I think there are a lot of people panicking. You win a couple of games in the Premier League, you fly up the table."
Expected starting lineups
Crystal Palace: Speroni; Fosu-Mensah, Dann, Sakho, Ward; Townsend, Cabaye, Milivojevic, Schlupp; Benteke, Zaha
Everton: Pickford; Kenny, Keane, Jagielka, Baines; Gueye, Davies, Baningime; Rooney, Lennon, Niasse
Prediction
The international break came at a bad time for Everton and Palace, who had both shown nascent signs of recovery in the week before the pause. A back-to-basics approach brought victory over Watford for the visitors, while Palace performed well despite a 1-0 defeat to Tottenham at Wembley.
The pair will now be looking to fully kick-start their season this weekend, making for potentially intriguing viewing.
Backed by their vocal home support, and with Zaha and Benteke almost certain to play some sort of role, Palace have a number of tools suited to unsettling their visitors. Indeed, how well the talented pair are able to exploit a lack of pace and aerial prowess in the Everton backline could ultimately decide the destination of the points.
The fact remains, though, that there's little to separate the two on paper at the moment, with a score draw looking the most likely option for weekend betting coupons.
Crystal Palace 1-1 Everton
