Still thriving under the wily wing of David Moyes, Everton endeavour to stretch their unbeaten Premier League run to eight matches on Saturday night, when they rock up to Molineux to face Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The Toffees most recently recovered from a one-goal deficit to rescue a 1-1 draw away at Brentford, while Wolves' fiery FA Cup clash with Bournemouth ended with the same scoreline before Vitor Pereira's men were dumped out on penalties.
Match preview
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Flash back to just a couple of weeks ago, where Wolves benefitted from the sending-off of Bournemouth's Ilya Zabarnyi to prevail 1-0 in the Premier League at the Vitality Stadium. However, with an FA Cup quarter-final place on the line, Pereira's men were the ones on the wrong end of both the red card and the result.
Following 120 minutes of breathless action, which concluded with a Matheus Cunha meltdown and subsequent ejection after his inexplicable outburst towards Milos Kerkez, Wolves' knockout adventure ended when Matt Doherty and Boubacar Traore fluffed their lines from the spot.
As agonising as the Old Gold's fifth-round exit may have been, Pereira and co can at least now dedicate all of their time and resources to the heated relegation scrap, as Saturday's hosts are not out of the woods by any stretch just yet.
Wolves' 2-1 home defeat to Fulham in gameweek 27 leaves them just five points clear of Leicester City and Ipswich Town in the dreaded drop zone, and with upcoming foes Everton a whopping 10 points better off, they will not be improving on their 17th-placed standing any time soon.
The hosts' recent reverse at the hands of Fulham was another classic case of the Old Gold failing to respond to adversity in front of their own fans, as they have now lost nine of their last 10 Premier League home games in which they have conceded the first goal, drawing the other one.
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After painfully throwing away a two-goal advantage versus Manchester United a couple of weekends ago, it was Everton's turn to come from behind at the Gtech Community Stadium on February 26, where Jake O'Brien returned to his goalscoring ways.
Always a threat in the opposition box during his time at Lyon, the towering Toffees defender cancelled out a Yoane Wissa opener to prolong Everton's fabulous unbeaten sequence under Moyes, who has now masterminded a seven-game run without defeat in the Premier League.
Not since the Ronald Koeman era of 2016-17 have Everton managed to go eight unbeaten in the English top flight, where their 16th-placed ranking might look precarious at first glance, but they have built up an incredibly healthy 15-point advantage over the relegation places.
A 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Man United aside, the Toffees have been adept at keeping things tight at the back on the road, conceding a goal or fewer in 10 of their last 11 Premier League away matches, including each of their last six.
Speaking of 4-0 scorelines, Everton remarkably put a quartet of goals past Wolves without reply in December's showdown at Goodison Park, meaning that the Toffees could now register just their second Premier League double over the Old Gold after first doing so in the COVID-affected 2020-21 season.
Team News
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After losing his rag and appearing to hit out at, kick out at and move his head towards Bournemouth's Kerkez, Wolves talisman Cunha now begins a three-match ban for violent conduct, one which could increase further after the FA charged him with acting in an improper manner.
Either Marshall Munetsi or the fit-again Hwang Hee-chan should be drafted into the XI to cover for Cunha, although Goncalo Guedes is another option after recovering from a knee problem.
Rodrigo Gomes (groin) and Emmanuel Agbadou (thigh) are in the same boat as Guedes, while Sasa Kalajdzic (knee), Yerson Mosquera (knee), Enso Gonzalez (knee) and Leon Chiwone (knee) remain out.
As far as Everton are concerned, Abdoulaye Doucoure was missing from the squad to face Brentford owing to the birth of his son, but he has now rejoined the squad and is set to make a swift return on Saturday.
Attacking duo Armando Broja (ankle) and Dominic Calvert-Lewin (thigh) are said to be closing in on their comebacks too, but this game will come too soon for them, Iliman Ndiaye (knee), Dwight McNeil (knee) and Orel Mangala (knee), while Seamus Coleman only has the slimmest chance of being available.
Carlos Alcaraz benefitted from Doucoure's absence to shine in the draw with Brentford, so if the Frenchman is to return straight away, it will likely be in place of the less effective Jesper Lindstrom instead.
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Sa; Doherty, Bueno, Toti; Semedo, Gomes, Andre, Ait-Nouri; Sarabia, Munetsi; Larsen
Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford; O'Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Garner, Gueye; Alcaraz, Doucoure, Harrison; Beto
We say: Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-1 Everton
Nineteen of Everton's 30 Premier League goals this season have come in the first half of games, and given Wolves' struggles when conceding first at Molineux, that statistic does not spell optimism for Pereira's men.
Also missing the attacking guile of leading marksman Cunha, Saturday's match has the makings of a painful watch for the Wolves faithful, whose side could fall victim to a Moyes defensive masterclass.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
