Everton return to action this weekend, with many of their players coming through the International Break unscathed. The Toffees are unbeaten in 3 league games, following a tough start to the season and travel to an Ipswich Town side still looking for their first Premier League win of the season.
Off the pitch the conversation has been focused on Pickford’s performance for England, Ndiaye’s phantom injury for Senegal and more pictures of Bramley Moore Dock, as the new stadium gets over closer to completion. Transfer rumors are rife, with talk of DCL and Beto heading to Juventus and Everton’s new potential owners will have to look elsewhere if they wish to replace Dyche, because Tuchel has a new gig with England.
If You Know Your History… Everton v Ipswich Through the Years
It’s been 22 years since Everton and Ipswich met in any competition. The Tractor Boys haven’t lost a game against Everton since the FA Cup 4th Round in January of 1999. ‘Last time out’, Ipswich would beat Everton 2-1 at Goodison Park in a season that would see the Suffolk side relegated from England’s top flight. In fact, Town took 4 points off Everton that season, after grinding out a 0-0 draw at Portman Road.
Despite recent history, Everton have the edge in this fixture. The Toffees have bested Town on 25 occasions, drawn 19 times and lost 15. Everton’s last win at Portman Road was in 1995, a Paul Rideout goal giving the Toffees a narrow victory.
Team News
El Bobble reported that Jarrad Branthwaite is back in full first team training following a thigh injury that kept him out of the Newcastle game. Meanwhile James Garner has suffered a back injury that will rule him out for an undefined period of time. Sean Dyche confirmed Jarred is back with the group but a decision will need to be made on if he is available for the trip to Ipswich. He also confirmed that Mykolenko is looking good, Seamus Coleman is back with the group. Elsewhere Patterson, Chermitti and Broja remain unavailable but are making good progress. Tim Iroegbunam is out for ‘weeks’ following a stress response in his foot.
For Ipswich, they are expected to be without defender Axel Tuanzebe, who is out with a hand injury. Massimo Luongo remains doubtful with an ankle injury and Jens Cajuste is likely to be out until mid-November with a knee injury.
What the Manager Says
Dyche on Everton’s current form – “We’ve shown signs of it [regaining the resilience of last season]. There’s still a lot of work to be done from them performances. We showed resilience. We came back to getting lots of the basics right. It’s helpful we can get players fit again. We’ve got to get the details right.
Dyche on facing a winless Ipswich Side- “You can’t take these teams for granted. They’ve spent a recognised fortune to aim to stay in the league. I’m approaching my 10th year in the league and you cannot expect any game to be a ‘gimmie’.
Everton Key Player
Iliman Ndiaye – It said a lot during the international break that the thought of Ndiaye being injured panicked our fanbase. And who can blame them? Since his arrival on Merseyside Ndiaye has shown a flare and quality on the ball that we’ve not seen since the departure of a certain Brazilian. The Senegal international seems to flourish in the freedom of playing behind the striker. Looking comfortable centrally or on either wing. His game ball and bursts of energy have been critical to Everton’s recent run of good form. A relief to all then that manager Sean Dyche confirmed he was in full training on Friday and available for selection. Ipswich will no doubt look to nullify the creative threats of Ndiaye and McNeil, but it’s exciting to be able to write that Everton pose attacking and creative threats heading into the next match day.
One to Watch for Ipswich Town:
Liam Delap– A lot of eyebrows might have been raised when Town took the decision to buy the young striker from Manchester City. The son of the Stoke City legend has little experience in the top flight and Ipswich will certainly need goals to stay in this division. The 23-year-old English forward has done his talking on the pitch, silencing the critics and scoring 4 league goals for Town already this season (including 3 in his last 2 games). He looks dangerous up top. A handful for a defender, who is showing flashes of brilliance when he receives the ball to feet and finds the space to get a shot away. If Everton are to build on recent positive results, they will need to find a way to keep him quiet.
Final Thoughts
The draw against Newcastle felt in many ways like a win. The torment of former forward Antony Gordon and the much needed clean sheet for Pickford and the back-line seemed to mark a turning point in our season. 3 games without defeat and looking creative and more confident, tomorrow’s test against Ipswich will give a true reflection of where we are at. Town are without a win, the pessimists among us might tell you we know how this one ends. Those willing our season to take a turn for the better will say it has to be a comfortable win.
Prediction
1-3. A big away win on the road is the feeling I am getting heading into this weekend’s game. The likelihood of Branthwaite returning to a more organised Everton defense makes me think we will play more creatively up top. Players have grown into this season and we have threats on either side of the pitch. It’s been a while since we won a game comfortably. The win against Palace showed fight. The one thing we are yet to show over 90-minutes is control and clinical attacking. With Ipswich looking to bounce back from a big defeat to West Ham, I feel we might be able to catch them out. But then I am sure they will feel similarly about us…
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