Venue: Goodison Park
Date: 28/12/2015
Kick-off: 15:00 (BST)
Match
Everton prepare to welcome Stoke City to Goodison Park on Monday and the Toffees will be hopeful of building on their dramatic win over Newcastle United with another victory on the day.
While Everton did not play particularly well, they managed to steal a victory over Newcastle United with a very late Tom Cleverley header which was literally the final touch of the game and the manner of the win would have most certainly pleased manager Roberto Martinez.
Having finally managed to claim a victory after a poor run of form, Martinez will now be keen on his side to build on the platform but doing so will not be straightforward as the Toffees prepare to square off against a dangerous Stoke City side, which just brushed aside giants Manchester United on Boxing Day with consummate ease.
Everton Team News
Martinez decided to rotate his side around for the clash against Newcastle United and the victory means that the move was more than justified.
With only one day of rest being provided, Martinez could once again decide to change things around for the visit of Stoke City but the likes of James McCarthy, Tony Hibbert, Phil Jagielka, Bryan Oviedo and Steven Pienaar are remain unavailable due to various injuries.
Tim Howard should keep his place in the starting lineup following his impressive display while the backline consisting of Ramiro Funes Mori, John Stones, Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman looks unlikely to be changed as well.
In midfield the evergreen Gareth Barry will be continuing and match winning hero Tom Cleverley most certainly deserves to keep his place in the starting lineup as well.
In the wide positions though, Kevin Mirallas and Aaron Lennon may drop down to the bench in favour of Gerard Deulofeu and Arouna Kone while Ross Barkley remains a certain starter.
Romelu Lukaku did not manage to continue with his wonderful goalscoring run against Newcastle but there is no doubting the fact that the young Belgian star will be leading the line for the Toffees on the day.
Probable Lineups
Everton (Probable XI): Howard; Baines, Funes Mori, Stones, Coleman; McCarthy, Barry, Deulofeu, Barkley, Kone; Lukaku
Stoke City (Probable XI): Butland; Pieters, Wollscheid, Shawcross, Johnson; van Ginkel, Whelan, Shaqiri, Afellay, Arnautovic; Bojan
Last Meeting
04/03/2015 Stoke City 2 – 0 Everton
26/12/2014 Everton 0 – 1 Stoke City
Prediction
Everton have not managed to claim a victory over Stoke City in their last three encounters and it will certainly be very difficult to change the record on Monday as well.
Stoke City are a dangerous side who specifically play well against the teams in the top half of the table and one can be sure that the Potters will give Everton a rough ride.
The match should be a very close encounter and with very little to choose from between the two sides, a score draws seems the most likely result.
Everton 2 – 0 Sunderland
