Match Preview
Everton vrs Fulham
Premier League Match Day 09 24/25 at Goodison Park
Saturday 26th October 2024 KO: 17:30
Referee:
John Brooks (Leicestershire)
Live on Sky Sports
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Fulham aiming to return to winning ways head to Goodison Park on Saturday evening where Everton will be seeking to extend their unbeaten Premier League run to five matches.
The two teams butt heads for the first time since January when they played out a goalless stalemate at Craven Cottage.
Fulham entered the international break earlier this month after picking up 11 points during an impressive five-game unbeaten run, but their progress has since been halted by back-to-back defeats against Manchester City and Aston Villa.
After putting up a fight in a 3-2 defeat at Man City, the Cottagers let a one-goal lead slip to lose 3-1 at home to Aston Villa last weekend, with Raul Jimenez's early opener cancelled out by strikes from Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins, before Issa Diop's own goal - netted just five minutes after Joachim Andersen's red card - sealed maximum points for the visitors.
Sitting 10th in the Premier League table and only three points behind the top six, Fulham are now gearing up for a "tough" trip to Everton, with head coach Marco Silva looking forward to returning to "a special place" in Goodison Park where he was in charge for 19 months.
The Cottagers have enjoyed their recent meetings with Everton, as they have won three - all away from home - and drawn two of their last five games, keeping four clean sheets in the process.
Fulham will be keen to make another fast start on Saturday; they have scored first in each of their last five Premier League games, but they have lost their last two. Only six teams in Premier League history have lost three consecutive games when scoring first, most recently Sheffield United in April and May of last season.
After beginning the 2024-25 campaign with four successive defeats, conceding 12 goals in the process, Everton have since turned a corner under Sean Dyche and have picked up eight points from their last four Premier League matches.
The Toffees held Newcastle United to a 0-0 draw in their final game prior to the international break before returning to winning ways last weekend when they beat newly-promoted Ipswich Town 2-0 at Portman Road courtesy of first-half goals from Iliman Ndiaye and Michael Keane.
Dyche was full of praise for his team's "very strong performance", keeping a second successive clean sheet and preventing Ipswich from registering a single shot on target until the 80th minute, and his side currently sit 16th in the Premier League table, five points above the relegation zone.
Everton have made a habit of turning their fortunes around in the month of October, as they have collected an average of 1.55 points per game in this month since the start of the 2022-23 campaign compared to only 0.75 points picked up on average between August and September; they have also kept six clean sheets in their last seven league games in October.
Their form at home to Fulham has taken a nosedive, though, as they have lost each of their last three league encounters with the Cottagers at Goodison Park, having previously boasted an impressive 27-game unbeaten run (W23 D4) between 1949 and 2018, winning each of the last 22 of those.
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Fulham lost their first 14 Premier League visits to Goodison Park but have won their subsequent three away fixtures against the Toffees.
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Everton have failed to score in four of the past five Premier League meetings.
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Last season’s league encounters between these sides yielded just one goal, with Fulham winning 1-0 at Goodison Park.
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Fulham have exactly the same record after their opening eight Premier League matches of the season as in each of the previous two seasons. They lost their ninth match in both of the last two campaigns.
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They could lose three successive top-flight fixtures for the first time since last December.
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Fulham conceded just five goals in their opening six league matches but have let in six in their last two outings.
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The Cottagers have scored the opening goal in each of their last five Premier League games but have only won two of them, losing the last two.
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Raul Jimenez could become the first Fulham player to score or assist in six consecutive Premier League appearances. He has scored in 10 of his last 12 league starts.
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Everton lost their first four Premier League matches this season but are unbeaten in the subsequent four games (W2, D2).
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The Toffees can earn back-to-back league wins for the first time since a run of three in April.
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They have scored 27 Premier League goals via set-pieces (excluding penalties) since Sean Dyche took charge, a tally only bettered by Arsenal.
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Everton have conceded 10 second-half goals in this season’s Premier League; only Wolves and Southampton have conceded more.
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Dwight McNeil has been involved in six goals in his last six Premier League appearances, with three goals and three assists.
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Idrissa Gueye could make his 200th Premier League appearance.
Fulham
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Source Oliver Thomas at SportsMole/BBC Sports