Two of the most attractive sides in the league clash and the result looks certain to be pretty. Not playing during midweek, both sides come off thrilling draws last weekend to opposition they probably would have wished to defeat when looking at the fixture list.
Everton has now drawn three on the trot and desperately need a win to revive their chances of finishing in the top 4. They should be boosted by the return to full fitness of Fellaini, whom I heard was out of sorts in the Liverpool match, and of Pienaar from suspension but will be hampered by the loss of Kevin Mirallas, who picked up an injury in the same match. News are that Darren Gibson could also be set to make a return and I feel that his replacement of Phil Neville will do much for the team even though Neville's performances have been much improved from his atrocious ones last season. Though, this match will probably be too early for gibson and he should at most make the subsitutes bench so Evertonians might habe to temper their excitement. On the topic of Phil Neville, it is distressing to see his dive in the Merseyside derby, especially considering David Moyes' pre-match comments about Suarez's antics and Moyes must be furious at his unprofessionalism. It is no surprise then to see that Neville has apologised in the aftermath, saying that Moyes gave him a good scolding. I won't be surprised to see Moyes make the point even more driven into his players' heads by dropping Neville and bringing Johnny Heitinga in, which might actually help in shoring up the defence. Everton will once again look to their left flank for their goals but Fulham will need to worry much lesser about the opposite flank as I feel Naismith does not have the quality to cut it at this level as of yet.
Fulham's Bryan Ruiz scored a wonderful chip over Tim Howard last season and Martin Jol will be hopeful he repeat this feat given his recent form(4 assists in 6 matches). Even better news for him is that he now has another striker capable of doing the sublime in Dimitar Berbatov if he can regain his fitness in time. When Everton's defence is on form, it often requires a shot out of nowhere to beat them and these two forwards are perfect to provide that kind of shots. The only danger Fulham has at the current moment is that their central midfield seems a little light and susceptible but Everton is the kind of team that is unlikely to focus much on over-running the midfield so Fulham can be spared in this game. Fulham is likely to continue their pass-and-move style that has served them so well during the matches.
With both teams possibly employing a 4-4-1-1 formation, the battle will be won by in individual duels. Look out for Hangeland v Fellaini and Jagielka v Berbatov. Both sets of players have been amongst the top of the Premier League players in terms of percentage of ariel duels won and whoever grabs this edge might give their teams the important edge. I suspect Everton's players will win this particular battle. Also keep an eye out for Baines v Duff as whoever manages to push the other back into their own half will neutralize a huge threat of the opponent as well as pose a goal scoring threat himself.
Predictions:
I have a sneaky feeling that Everton will extend their draw streak to 4 matches, though that is by no means a reliable choice according to my head which points towards an Everton win. A more assured bet will be to take both teams to score and also have a pop at Berbatov opening the scoring if he is deemed fit to play.
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