Monday night’s fixture sees Everton travel to Wolves. The Blues are looking to bounce back from last week’s embarrassing defeat to Watford – their heaviest home defeat since December 2018.
Last Saturday saw Everton lose their second home game in a row, a humiliating 2-5 defeat to Watford which followed the 0-1 defeat to West Ham. Former striker Josh King, who did not net once in eleven appearances for the Toffees, scored a hattrick.
Goals from Tom Davies and the returning Richarlison could not stop Everton falling to defeat to a team that had been beat 5-0 the previous week. The result means that Rafa Benitez’s side have won once in their last five league games.
Wolves on the other hand are unbeaten in their last four in the league and hoping to continue their good form tomorrow night.
Bruno Lage’s men have played some good football since the end of the first international break and look a different side. They had lost their first three in the League without scoring. Their good run includes a remarkable 3-2 win at Aston Villa. Goals from Roman Saïss, Conor Coady and Ruben Neves in fifteen minutes completed an extraordinary turnaround.
Wolves have picked up ten points from the last twelve available, whilst Everton have only picked up four. The two sides come into the game in drastically different form.
The Midlands side are still without Pedro Neto, but Lage has said that he should be able to start training again in ‘five to six weeks’. Left-back Marçal is also out of tomorrow’s clash, although fellow defender Willy Boly is fit again following an illness that has kept him out so far this season.
The visitors are still without Abdoulaye Doucouré in midfield, who is currently side-lined with a foot injury. Everton are still also set to be without Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Yerry Mina and André Gomes.
However, Richarlison made a goal-scoring return against Watford last Saturday and could be in line to start tomorrow’s fixture, which would certainly be a boost to Everton’s front-line.
One to Watch – Wolverhampton Wanderers
South Korean forward Hwang Hee-Chan has hit the ground running in a Wolves shirt. The loan signing from Red Bull Leipzig has made six appearances in the Premier League, scoring four goals, including a double in the 2-1 win over Newcastle.
He has a shooting accuracy of 57%, one of the highest in the Premier League and of his seven shots, four of them have been on target.
His strengths identified by WhoScored include dribbling and passing. He also likes a tackle, one of the reasons he is nicknamed the ‘Bull’ in his native country.
Chan’s weakness is his aerial ability, so making Wolves play long and wide could be a way for Everton to get something out of the game.
Yet whoever is up against him tomorrow will have an aggressive winger in good goal-scoring form to contend with.
One to Watch – Everton
Picking an Everton player that could stand out tomorrow has been difficult following the results over the last few weeks. However, following his goal-scoring return last week, it must be Richarlison. He was only one of a few players in a Blue shirt who could come away from last weekend’s defeat with some dignity, the other being Anthony Gordon.
The Brazilian’s return was the only positive to a lacklustre performance from Benitez’s men. And he likes playing against Wolves.
He has five goals in his last six games against Bruno Lage’s men including two against them on his Everton debut back in 2018. The 24-year-old will be looking to continue his fine form against the Midlands side and will be hoping to inspire Everton to a much-needed win.
Tomorrow’s fixture sees a Wolves side in a good run of form, up against an Everton side in desperate need of a win. Despite this fact, the history between the two sides bodes well for the Blues.
Since their promotion from the Championship, they have only beaten the Toffees twice, a 3-1 win at Goodison Park and a 3-0 home win in the summer of 2020. The Merseyside outfit completed the double over tomorrow’s opponent and are looking to make it three games unbeaten.
Rafa Benitez and Everton need to get back to winning ways, following back-to-back home defeats against teams that they were expected to do much better against. The return of Richarlison is a massive boost to the side.
Wolves are looking to go five games unbeaten and move ahead of the Toffees in the Premier League, and the game tomorrow is sure to be a close encounter.
Prediction: 1-1.
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