Venue: Goodison Park
Date: 19/11/2016
Kick-off: 15:00 (BST)
Everton prepare to welcome Swansea City to Goodison Park on Saturday and one can be sure that the Toffees will be looking to bounce back after being humiliated by Chelsea ahead of the international break.
Everton had headed into their clash against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge will a lot of optimism but as it turned out, the Toffees were simply ripped apart by the Blues.
In truth, Everton faced an irresistible Chelsea team on the day but manager Ronald Koeman would surely not have been left pleased at the manner of his side’s collapse.
Now the Merseyside outfit prepare for an encounter against struggling Swansea City this weekend and the match will certainly be one from which Everton will look to get three points from.
Everton Team News
Muhamed Besic, Aiden McGeady and Matthew Pennington remain the long term injury concerns for Everton but as a huge boost, Koeman will now be able to welcome back the duo of Leighton Baines and James McCarthy following a lengthy layoff.
Baines should come in at left-back in place of Bryan Oviedo while the rest of the back four is likely to consist of Ashley Williams, Phil Jagielka and Seamus Coleman in front of goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, despite their collectively shocking display against Chelsea.
With Gareth Barry ruled out, Tom Cleverley might be handed a start at the middle of the park alongside the returning Idrissa Gueye while McCarthy will also be in contention.
In the attacking positions, Yannick Bolasie, Ross Barkley and Kevin Mirallas form the trio from midfield while Romelu Lukaku will be the man leading the line for the Toffees.
The likes of Gerard Deulofeu, Aaron Lennon and Enner Valencia are the alternative options for Koeman to choose from in the attacking areas.
Probable Lineups
Everton (Probable XI): Stekelenburg; Oviedo, Funes Mori, Williams, Coleman; Barry, Cleverley, Mirallas, Barkley, Bolasie; Lukaku
Swansea City (Probable XI): Fabianski; Kingsley, Mawson, Van Der Hoorn, Naughton; Ki, Fer, Routledge, Sigurdsson, Barrow; Baston
Last Meeting
24/01/2016 Everton 1 – 2 Swansea City
19/09/2015 Swansea City 0 – 0 Everton
Prediction
Swansea City have proven to be a bit of a bogey team for Everton and the Toffees have failed to claim a victory over the Swans in their last five consecutive meetings.
As a result, the clash on Saturday is going to be another tough encounter for Everton and despite Swansea’s current struggles; they remain a difficult side to beat.
However, Everton do have too much firepower in their lineup and if Koeman’s men play to their full potential, a home win should be on the cards.
Everton 3-0 Swansea City
