Everton vs Burnley
Date: 03/05/2019
K/O: 20.00
Venue: Goodison Park
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
TV: Sky Sports
Everton take on Burnley on Friday night as two sides with identical records in their last five matches (W3 – D1 – L1) clash at Goodison Park.
Even though Burnley lost last time out against title chasers Manchester City, they became mathematically safe from relegation after Cardiff lost to Fulham. After a poor start to the season, fans will be delighted after their side survived a disappointing season.
Marco Silva’s side are still chasing seventh place but sit behind Wolves and marginally ahead of Watford who have both found form and after drawing against Crystal Palace, the Toffees are relying on other results to go their way if they are to play Europa League football next season.
Despite a disappointing draw in which Everton struggled to unlock Palace’s defence, the Merseysiders have been in their best form of the season keeping five clean sheets in their last six games.
Defensive stability is just what Everton needed this campaign and some suspect performances had brought into question Silva’s capabilities in putting together a strong defensive unit. However, the critics have been answered and the Toffees look like they could be strong contenders for Europa League qualification owing to their recent resurgence.
Burnley have been in good scoring form, scoring ten in their last six games and only conceding six. The Clarets hit a good run of form at the right time of the season and managed to comfortably survive a relegation scare as Sean Dyche continues to establish his side as Premier League regulars.
They will, however, have to break down a solid defence who have been strong in front of their home crowd recently. The game is also Everton’s last at home this season and they will be desperate to leave a good impression on their fans as they chase Wolves and Leicester.
This fixture really could be a game of two defences as they have both proven to be difficult units to break down recently.
Silva’s attack failed to score last time out as Palace shut them out but an organised defensive unit and this could be the case again with Burnley’s back four.
The likes of Ben Mee and James Tarkowski will have their hands full though as they play an attack who scored four against Manchester United last time they played at Goodison.
Head to Head
These two sides have not drawn with one another in their last nine meets with Everton winning five and Burnley winning the other four.
The last time these two sides met was over the Christmas fixtures list at Turf Moor where Everton picked up their biggest win this season beating Dyche’s side 5-1.
Team News
Everton could field the same teams that played against United and Palace as they have impressed in recent weeks. They are still missing Yerry Mina, meanwhile, Andre Gomes is eligible after serving his suspension but Morgan Schneiderlin could keep his place after two good performances.
Burnley still have Steven Defour missing with a long term injury while Dyche has most of his players still to chose from. Peter Crouch could be missing but is hoping to be fit for the game, whilst Phil Bardsley could also return. They are also likely to field a similar starting lineup to that which narrowly lost to Man City.
Predicted Starting XIs
Everton (4-3-3): Pickford; Coleman, Keane, Zouma, Digne; Gueye, Schneiderlin, Richarlison, Sigurdsson, Bernard, Calvert-Lewin.
Burnley (4-4-2): Heaton; Bardsley, Mee, Tarkowski, Taylor; Hendrick, Westwood, Cork, McNeil; Barnes, Woods.
Prediction: Everton 2 – 0 Burnley
Two good defences but Everton have offered more going forward recently and this will be what gets them three points in their pursuit of Wolves in 7th place.
