Thursday September 28, 20:05 (BST), LIVE on BT Sport 2
Everton will hope to belatedly kick-start their Europa League campaign against Apollon Limassol of Cyprus on Thursday evening.
Following defeat against Atalanta in the opening round of fixtures, the Blues already know that the Goodison Park encounter is something of a six-pointer- even at this early stage in the competition.
History shows that in the Europa League, any side that wins their home games and picks up a couple of results on the road is virtually assured a place in the knockout rounds. Now, after the 3-0 defeat in Italy, victory on Thursday evening is paramount if Everton are to stand a chance of progressing.
In their way is an Apollon Limassol side that finished 3rd in the Cypriot First Division last time around and held top seeds Lyon to a credible 1-1 draw in the group stage opener. The fact remains, though, that Sofronis Avgousti's side are notoriously poor travellers, and lost 2-1 to Aberdeen at Pittodrie in the qualifying round for this season's competition back in July.
And so, anything less than three points would be a serious disappointment for Ronald Koeman's men as they seek their third win on the bounce in all competitions.
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Team news
Injuries to Michael Keane and Phil Jagielka have left Everton short in central defence for this week's double-header against Apollon and Burnley, but while losing the duo is clearly a blow, one silver lining is the opportunity presented to Mason Holgate to get back-to-back games in what many deem to be his natural position.
The ex-Barnsley man's likely presence in the centre of defence also opens a door for promising right-back Jonjoe Kenny, who played a crucial role in turning round Saturday's match against Bournemouth. The England Under-21 international will now fight it out with Cuco Martina for game-time in the coming weeks, with most of the Goodison faithful hoping Kenny gets the nod over his more experienced colleague.
Elsewhere, a number of other changes are expected ahead of the weekend game against Burnley. Maarten Stekelenburg seems to have been given the nod as the club's designated Europa League goalkeeper, while several young guns are also pushing for a start as Koeman looks to rotate his squad.
As such, the likes of Sandro Ramirez, Nikola Vlasic and Ademola Lookman may all be given a chance to stake their claim for more regular inclusion against the men from Southern Europe. One player that definitely won't feature, though, is Saturday's matchwinner Oumar Niasse. The Senegalese centre-forward has not been named in Everton's Europa League squad and is ineligible for the game.
A poor start domestically means that Apollon Limassol are likely to make a series of changes for the match. Ex-Sunderland man Valentin Roberge could start in defence for the visitors, who usually favour a variation of 4-2-3-1 that sees Croatian Anton Maglica lead the line as a lone striker.
Adrian Sardinero, a Spanish forward that counts Getafe and Hercules as his former clubs, is also pushing for a start after netting the equaliser against Lyon earlier this month.
@RonaldKoeman has heaped further praise on Oumar Niasse ➡️ .
What they said
Ronald Koeman: "Of course it is really important to play full of confidence. They get it by themselves and through good results. We knew it was a tough start because the pre-season was different than normal.
"I think the wins in the last two games against Sunderland and Bournemouth were important. We need to react because the final result in Italy was not the Everton we like. You play three times at home in the Europa League. That means you need to win the three games at home to make the next round.
“Limassol had a good point against Lyon at home. It’s important to be part of Europe. It will not be an easy game. They are aggressive and like to press.
“More important is about ourselves tomorrow. We need to play better, more aggressive, we play at home and we need to win.”
Mason Holgate: "We had a difficult run of games at the start of the season but we were never worried we wouldn’t get it back together.
“Once you’ve got a few things, confidence comes and things drop for you more. That’s what will start happening now.
"We do our research on every game. We take it as it is and have done everything we need to know. We’re looking forward to the game tomorrow."
Expected starting line-ups
Everton: Stekelenburg; Kenny, Holgate, Williams, Baines; Davies, Besic, Klaassen; Lookman, Vlasic, Sandro Ramirez
Apollon Limassol: Vale; Pedro, Yuste, Roberge, Jander; Alef, Sachetti; Jakolis, Silva, Schembri; Maglica
Prediction
Pitted against a side that the European Club Index rates as being roughly similar in ability to Brighton and Hove Albion, Everton will no doubt fancy their chances of getting their first points on the board in this season's competition.
Despite consternation over a series of torrid performances, results are slowly but steadily improving at Goodison Park, with Thursday's game a clear opportunity to make further progress on that particular front.
With this in mind, a comfortable home victory seems the likeliest outcome for the game at Goodison Park. 3-0 Everton.
