Venue: Britannia Stadium
Date: 06/02/2016
Kick-off: 15:00 (BST)
Match
Everton travel to the Britannia Stadium to square off against Stoke City on Saturday and the match should be an entertaining encounter between two sides chasing European football.
Everton managed to break their winless five game streak with a fantastic 3-0 victory over Newcastle United in midweek and the manner of the performance has most certainly helped the Toffees regain their confidence.
While Everton are not a million miles away from one of the European place, the competition in the top half of the table is intense and the Merseyside based outfit now need to go on a good run of form in order to propel themselves up the Premier League table.
Up next for Everton is a clash against European rivals Stoke City and manager Roberto Martinez will be desperate for his side to exact revenge for their unfortunate defeat in the corresponding fixture at Goodison Park back in December.
Everton Team News
Martinez has a host of injury concerns ahead of the clash as the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Muhamed Besic, John Stones and Tim Howard are all struggling with injuries while Tony Hibbert remains ruled out. In addition, new signing Oumar Niasse is not yet available due to problems regarding his work permit.
If Howard misses out, Joel Robles will be starting in goal while the backline should consist of Leighton Baines, Ramiro Funes Mori, Phil Jagielka and Seamus Coleman. John Stones is also a doubt while Bryan Oviedo is in contention to start.
At the middle of the park, the duo of Gareth Barry and James McCarthy are set to be reunited once again while Tom Cleverley is likely to be taking his place on the bench. Muhamed Besic is struggling with injury and is unlikely to feature.
In the wide positions, Gerard Deulofeu and Aaron Lennon are likely to start while Kevin Mirallas is also available after recovering from a knee ligament problem. Ross Barkley was in stunning form against Newcastle and he will be looking to replicate the performance on Saturday as well.
Romelu Lukaku has been rated as a doubt and if the Belgian international is unable to recover in time to start, Arouna Kone is expected to be leading the line.
Probable Lineups
Stoke City (Probable XI): Butland; Pieters, Wollscheid, Muniesa, Johnson; Imbula, Whelan, Arnautovic, Afellay, Shaqiri; Bojan
Everton (Probable XI): Robles; Baines, Funes Mori, Jagielka, Coleman; McCarthy, Barry, Lennon, Barkley, Deulofeu; Lukaku
Last Meeting
28/12/2015 Everton 3 – 4 Stoke City
04/03/2015 Stoke City 2 – 0 Everton
Prediction
Everton were left hard done by in the corresponding fixture after Stoke City claimed a 4-3 victory at Goodison Park back in December and they will surely be keen on exacting revenge on Saturday.
That said though, Stoke are a very strong side at home and Everton will need to be pragmatic with their approach rather than go into the game with the intention of claiming victory at all costs.
The match is expected to be a very tight encounter and given the two closely matched sides, a scored draw looks the most likely outcome at the moment.
Stoke City 1 – 1 Everton
