Everton v Crystal Palace
Saturday, February 9 (15:00 GMT), Goodison Park
Everton will hope to put last weekend's 5-1 hammering at Arsenal behind them when they face fellow strugglers Crystal Palace at Goodison on Saturday.
The Blues sit in 10th place in the Premier League table having amassed 31 points so far this season, and despite defeat last time around, can take another major step towards securing their top-flight status this weekend against Roy Hodgson's men.
Visitors Palace, meanwhile, head to Merseyside in relatively good form having lost just twice in their last 10 games- but nevertheless remain just three points clear of the relegation zone.
Defeat here, particularly with key forward Wilfried Zaha set to miss at least a month of the remainder of the season, could see the Eagles pulled back into a real battle to avoid the drop.
Team news
Following the humiliation against Arsenal last weekend, Everton manager Sam Allardyce is expected to make a raft of changes for the game against former club Palace. That should mean recalls for the likes of Wayne Rooney, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Seamus Coleman if the latter can shake off a bout of illness that stopped him from travelling last time around.
Youngsters Tom Davies and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, both impressive as second-half substitutes at the Emirates are also in with a chance of figuring from the outset, with Oumar Niasse and Morgan Schneiderlin two who could make way.
As he continues his search for a winning formula, Allardyce may revert to the blueprint that brought victory over Leicester last Wednesday. Should he do so, at least one of the defensive trio of Michael Keane, Ashley Williams and Eliaquim Mangala will miss out, although the latter's presence as the sole left-footed option in central defence puts him at a distinct advantage over his teammates.
The game is likely to come too soon for Leighton Baines and Ramiro Funes Mori, with the fixture against Watford on February 24 a more realistic return date for the two long-term absentees.
Visitors Palace, meanwhile, have been left reeling by the news that attacking talisman Wilf Zaha will miss at least a month through injury.
His absence could mean a first start for January addition Alexander Sorloth alongside Christian Benteke in Hodgson's favoured 4-4-2 system, with Andros Townsend providing width from the right of midfield.
A host of first-teamers, including Bakary Sako, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Jeffrey Schlupp, Jason Puncheon, Scott Dann and Connor Wickham have joined Zaha on the sidelines for the trip to Merseyside, while injury to Martin Kelly means ex-Liverpool centre-back Mamadou Sakho could be set to return to the heart of the defence.
What they said
Sam Allardyce: "We need to focus on our own form. We’ve only lost one since I got here at home. Our home form is very good. We need to avoid the threat of relegation and it needs to start with Crystal Palace. When you’re looking at us, yes, away results are not so good but our home form is very good. Only Manchester United have beaten us in the last six games.
"It’s a great turnaround [from Palace]. It was always in the players but Roy’s managed to bring it out of them. It’s only Fosu-Mensah who’s playing in the team from when I wasn’t there. Obviously they have a lot of strengths that me and Sammy know about but it’s about us playing to our best and trying to win the game.
Yes, we have to be concerned about Palace’s strengths but Zaha not playing could be an advantage. That being said, we will have to be at our best game to beat Crystal Palace. They’re very resilient, so hats off to Roy and his players."
Roy Hodgson: "The ability to win two games in a row is vital. Wins are hard to find if you're not one of the top teams and finding them back to back is even harder. Two wins can lift you considerably.
"To pick up 27 points from those 19 games is a testament to how hard we've worked. We need to keep up that points tally in the final 12 games.
"When Arsenal play their best football, they take a bit of stopping. We were recipients of a 4-1 defeat there ourselves. Saturday will be a tighter game between two teams closer together."
Expected starting lineups
Everton: Pickford; Coleman, Jagielka, Mangala, Martina; Gueye, Davies, Rooney; Walcott, Sigurdsson, Calvert-Lewin
Crystal Palace: Hennessey; Fosu-Mensah, Tomkins, Sakho, van Aanholt; Townsend, Milivojevic, Cabaye, McArthur; Benteke, Sorloth
Prediction
The injury to Wilfried Zaha has come at just the wrong time for Palace, who had started to generate tangible momentum in their bid to avoid the drop.
Still just three points clear of the relegation zone though, the Eagles will hope that the loss of the Ivorian will not have the same impact as it did at the start of the season, where they went eight whole matches without scoring. Certainly, given how much emphasis was placed on Zaha from a creative point of view, Hodgson will need to quickly come up with a new game-plan to avoid their attacking output unraveling over the coming months.
Indeed, defeat here against an Everton side smarting from last weekend's 5-1 thumping at Arsenal would pull the men from Selhurst Park back into danger at the foot of the table- and without Zaha to call upon, few would bet against their future going right down to the wire in his absence.
In truth, any clash between Allardyce and Hodgson is unlikely to be pleasing on the eye- but with so much riding on this one, expect a particularly tight-fought encounter probably decided by either Everton's excellent right-sided duo of Seamus Coleman and Theo Walcott, or a moment of brilliance from Gylfi Sigurdsson or Wayne Rooney. Everton 2-1 Crystal Palace
