Venue: Goodison Park
Date: 3/12/2014
Kick-off: 19:45 (BST)
Match
Everton’s wonderful run was brought to an unceremonious halt as the Blues succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur over the weekend.
Having started brightly with a wonderful Kevin Mirallas goal, Everton faded away after 20 minutes of the game and at the end, the Toffees could have no complaints whatsoever regarding the loss.
While the result was certainly a big blow, manager Roberto Martinez would have been bitterly disappointed by his sides’ performance after going a goal down and the Spaniard will now surely be demanding a reaction when the Toffees square off against struggling Hull City on Wednesday night.
Everton Team News
Heading into the game against Hull, Martinez has a couple of injury problems to contend with as the important duo of James McCarthy and Steven Naismith are still struggling with injuries.
With John Stones and Antolin Alcaraz remaining sidelined, the experienced duo of Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin will continue in the centre back position while Seamus Coleman and Leighton Baines retain their place in the full back positions.
In the absence of McCarthy, Muhamed Besic will be deployed at the middle of the park alongside Gareth Barry while it will be interesting to see if Martinez decides to make changes to the starting lineup in the attacking positions.
Kevin Mirallas and Ross Barkley remain the most likely options on the wings but with the games coming in thick and fast, it would not be a surprise if Martinez decides to rotate things by giving the likes of Leon Osman, Aiden McGeady and Steven Pienaar a chance to start.
Veteran striker Samuel Eto’o has been impressive in his deeper role and looks set to start once again while striker Romelu Lukaku will be hoping to get himself back on form following a poor performance against Tottenham last time out.
Probable Lineups
Everton (Probable XI): Howard; Baines, Distin, Jagielka, Coleman; Mirallas, Barry, Besic, Barkley; Lukaku, Eto’o
Hull City (Probable XI): McGregor; Robertson, Dawson, Davies, Chester, Elmohamady; Brady, Huddlestone, Livermore, Diame; Jelavic
Form
Everton: W D W W L
Hull City: D L L L L
Last Meeting
11/05/2014 Hull City 0 – 2 Everton
19/10/2013 Everton 2 – 1 Hull City
Prediction
Heading into the game, there is no doubt whatsoever as to who is the favourite for the clash. Although Everton did endure a difficult weekend last time out, they simply look too strong against a Hull City side that has lost four on the bounce.
On the back of poor results respectively, both teams will be desperate to claim a victory on the night but it is clear that Everton have the advantage in terms of quality in the squad as well as overall form.
Despite not playing all that poorly, Hull find themselves in a terrible slump in terms of results and they simply look unable to buy a win at the moment.
The Toffees on the other hand, will view the defeat against Tottenham as a mere glitch rather than a deep rooted problem and should be confident heading into Wednesday night’s clash.
However, this is not to say that the match is a foregone conclusion. Despite their poor run of form, Hull City do possess a host of quality players in their ranks and if Everton allow complacency to creep into their game – the Tigers are more than capable of taking advantage.
For Everton, the duo of Romelu Lukaku and Samuel Eto’o will be important once again as they will be hoping to exploit the shaky Hull backline, while the likes of Kevin Mirallas and Ross Barkley will also be hopeful of continuing their fine run of form.
It will not be easy but Everton simply look too strong for the Hull City side and if the Toffees play to their optimal potential on the night – they should be able to claim the three points.
Everton 2 – 0 Hull City
