A week is a long time in the world of football. This time last week we were heading into a game against fellow strugglers Leicester with 0 points on the board and Everton Football Club off the pitch looked as bleak as the offerings on the pitch. However, the shocking reemergence of Dan Friedkin and The Friedkin Group on Monday has certainly created new conversations around the club and its supporters. From rumour to club statement in a matter of hours, Dan Friedkin has confirmed purchase of 94.1% of the club’s shares, from outgoing owner Farhad Moshiri. With that comes a sense of cautious optimism amongst the fan-base. The Premier League and FA look set to give the takeover the greenlight before the end of the year, many fans will reserve celebration until that time. However, there are many who are already dreaming of life under new ownership and the improvements that could come…
Meanwhile on the pitch Everton are still looking for their first win of the season, when they host Crystal Palace tomorrow. Boosted by the impending returns of Branthwaite and Patterson, Sean Dyche looks likely to have his strongest side available for a tie that has thrown up a lot of drama in recent seasons…
If You Know Your History… Everton v Crystal Palace Through the Years
You have to go back to the 2021/22 season to find the last time Crystal Palace beat Everton in any competition. It’s also been 10 years since Palace managed a victory at Goodison Park. The two sides have faced off on 62 occasions over the years, dating back to early FA Cup ties in 1907. Everton have the edge in this fixture with 26 victories to Palace’s 15. The sides have played out draws on 21 occasions.
Last time out at Goodison Park Amadou Onana rescued a point for Everton. His late strike canceled out an Ayew opener to see the Toffees earn a much needed point. This came less than a month after Andre Gomes’ free-kick at Goodison saw Everton progress over Palace in the FA Cup.
Arguably the most memorable tie against Palace came in 2022, where under the floodlights of Goodison Park, Frank Lampard’s Everton outfit secured their Premier League survival in dramatic fashion. The final league meeting between the two sides at Goodison will not have the same drama attached to it, but at a crucial stage in Everton’s season they will be hoping for a similar outcome…
Team News
Sean Dyche confirmed Jarrad Branthwaite and Vitalii Mykolenko are in contention to return to the first team from injury and illness. Idrissa Gana Gueye could start after returning from personal leave in Senegal. Nathern Patterson is still a doubt. Coleman and Broja and Chermitti are still out with longer term injuries.
Meanwhile Crystal Palace will be without Cheick Doucoure and Chadi Dnanou until later this year. Olivera and Chalobah could both return for the away side this weekend.
What the Managers Says
Dyche on Everton’s current form – “I think there are better signs, but better signs have got to bring wins. We’ve got to get that winning edge back”.
Oliver Glasner on Palace’s start to the season – “We played the game [against Man Utd] without courage in and out of possession. Very passive and this is how we don’t want to play.”
Everton Key Player
Jarrad Branthwaite – There was only going to be one choice for our key player this weekend. If he’s fit, he starts and my goodness do we need him fit. Defensively, Everton have had a poor start to the season. An inability right now to grind out clean sheets is costing the side valuable points at an early stage. Many fans and pundits have attributed the absence of the young English center-back as the reason why Everton look out of sorts. The Toffees fought hard to keep Branthwaite at Goodison Park over the summer, despite heavy interest from Manchester United. Now all eyes will be on the talented youngster to find his fitness and form and help restore stability to the Everton back-line.
One to Watch for Crystal Palace:
Jean Philippe Mateta– Crystal Palace have a worse goal scoring record than Everton in the league this season, so far only scoring 4 goals. Mateta has 2 of those goals to his name and also another 2 in the League Cup. The French forward will be supplied, as always, by the talented Eze and given Everton’s fragility at the back he could add to his tally this weekend. Everton will need to keep a close eye on Palace’s target man to minimise the threat he possesses.
Final Thoughts
The fresh wave of optimism off the pitch should find its way down into Goodison Park this weekend. The welcome news of an end to the long saga surrounding Everton’s ownership will hopefully breathe new life into the final year at the Old Lady. Everton will also hope to harness the news of players returning from injury/illness to allow Sean Dyche a deeper squad to select from. While a resurrection of this season won’t happen in 1 game, the Toffees have a chance to take the next step on that journey at home to Palace.
Prediction
1-0. Despite it not being the result we wanted last weekend, I did get my first correct prediction of the season. A 1-1 draw put points on the board in a scrappy game, signs were shown that we are slowly improving. With that in mind, I am calling a 1-0 win for Everton. The return of JB32 and also the prospect of Mykolenko and Patterson starting in the fullback positions, I believe now is as good a moment as any to bag our first clean sheet of the season, against a Palace side struggling for goals.
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