Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Everton midfielder James McCarthy faces a fitness test on the hip injury that ruled him out of the midweek Capital Cup win at Middlesbrough.
Leighton Baines made his comeback from ankle surgery in midweek but is unlikely to start as the Toffees ease back him gently.
Crystal Palace will be without winger Wilfried Zaha, who is suspended after picking up five bookings this season.
Midfielder Bakary Sako also misses out because of a hamstring injury.
Editor’s Note: Everton will wonder how they didn’t come away with a win at Bournemouth in their last fixture after being surging ahead 2-0 and 3-2 but then conceding a dramatic 97th minute equaliser to only come away with a share of the points.
They had the game not only once but twice and still didn’t managed to get the job done. There would have no doubt been a massive amount of frustration from Everton Manager Roberto Martinez and although their form has seen them unbeaten in their last 4 matches they currently sit 11th in the table albeit with tonight’s game in hand.
Tonight they play host to a Crystal Palace side who gave out a 5 star performance in their last outing as they thumped a poor Newcastle side at home. That win took them to 6th in the table and draw tonight would see them regain that position.
The Eagles have already had some joy on Merseyside this season as they beat Liverpool 2-1 last month and they seem to be better away from home than they do at Selhurst Park. For that reason I think Crystal Palace will cause Everton some problems tonight but Everton can count on the goals of Romelu Lukaku. Therefore I think it will be honours even tonight.
