Following a turbulent and distressing few days culminating in the resignation of their manager, Crystal Palace return to Premier League action on Monday evening, when Everton host their capital counterparts at Goodison Park.
Sean Dyche's side were put to the sword 2-0 by Manchester City last weekend, two days before the Eagles fell to a 3-1 loss to London rivals Chelsea at Selhurst Park.
Match preview
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Few strikers would be capable of outmuscling the intimidating Jarrad Branthwaite with consummate ease, but as Erling Haaland returned to his irrepressible ways at the Etihad Stadium, not even the 6ft 5in, much-coveted Everton defender possessed the formula to stop his advances.
In typical Dyche fashion, Everton produced a masterful defensive display on the treble winners' turf to get to the 70-minute mark with their clean sheet intact, but a venomous strike from Haaland finally broke the deadlock before the Norwegian bullied Branthwaite out of the way and doubled his tally for the afternoon.
As applaudable as the Toffees' efforts were in Manchester, failure to glean any precious points means that Dyche's troops remain below the dotted line in 18th place in the table - currently one point adrift of Luton Town having played a game more - and they are still waiting for their first Premier League maximum of the New Year.
After exploding out of the blocks in advent season with four wins from their first four top-flight fixtures in December, Everton are now without a single top-flight success in their last seven attempts - no team in the Premier League is on a worse run of successive matches without a triumph.
Furthermore, the Toffees have fallen back into bad attacking habits - four of their last five fixtures in the Premier League have seen them fail to find the back of the net - although their only win from their last 11 matches in all competitions came against none other than Monday's opponents.
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Since overseeing a 1-0 defeat to Everton in January's FA Cup third-round replay, Crystal Palace have continued to ship goals at an alarming rate amid the expectation that his time in the hotseat would soon be up, but the slating of his methods was swapped for sympathy after worrying news broke in midweek.
Some reacted with scepticism when Palace claimed that the under-fire Roy Hodgson had been taken ill in training and would be unable to conduct his pre-match media duties, but the 76-year-old is now confirmed to be stable in hospital and continues to receive numerous well-wishes from figures inside the football community.
Mere hours before kickoff on Monday evening, the Eagles confirmed that Hodgson had stepped down from his position in order to accelerate their plans to bring in a new head coach - Oliver Glasner is expected to be named as his successor - but managerial duties will fall on the shoulders of Paddy McCarthy and Ray Lewington at Goodison Park.
Taking part in their second straight Monday night battle, Palace were haunted by an old flame in Conor Gallagher on February 12 - the ex-Eagles loanee showed no hesitancy to celebrate after netting twice against his former team - leaving Hodgson's charges 16th in the standings.
Fourteen goals have been shipped by Palace's feeble rearguard over their past four fixtures, and each of the Eagles' last four matches have ended in defeat - including last month's knockout exit at Goodison Park - and not since September 2014 have the visitors' left Everton's turf celebrating a victory.
Team News
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Everton defender Ben Godfrey earned a surprise start for the fixture with Man City but was taken off on the 56-minute mark due to illness, although he has been put through his paces in training and ought to be fine for the Goodison showdown.
Abdoulaye Doucoure was also pictured with the ball at his feet in midweek, and Dyche confirmed in his pre-game press conference that the midfielder is in contention to start, as are Seamus Coleman and Amadou Onana.
However, Arnaut Danjuma (ankle), Dele Alli (groin) and Andre Gomes (calf) are still undergoing their individual rehabilitation programmes and will not feature this weekend.
Meanwhile, the absence of a Crystal Palace press conference means that updates on the condition of their stricken players are scarce, but Cheick Doucoure (Achilles), Rob Holding (ankle), Michael Olise (thigh) and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi (thigh) are all long-term concerns.
The trek to Merseyside may also come too soon for crucial cogs Marc Guehi (knee) and Eberechi Eze (thigh), while Will Hughes was a second-half casualty of the defeat to Chelsea with an ankle injury and will require a once-over.
Naouirou Ahamada and Jeffrey Schlupp will fight for the right to deputise for Hughes should the midfielder not be given the thumbs-up from the medical team, and with both Olise and Eze in the infirmary, a second successive Premier League start should come Matheus Franca's way.
Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Coleman, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Harrison, Onana, Garner, Doucoure, McNeil; Calvert-Lewin
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Henderson; Munoz, Andersen, Richards, Mitchell; Ahamada, Lerma, Wharton; Ayew, Mateta, Franca
We say: Everton 1-0 Crystal Palace
Palace possess all the motivation they need to give Hodgson the best farewell present they can, but the Eagles' key absentees and propensity for leaky defensive displays in recent matches cannot be ignored.
With perpetual goal threat Doucoure also expected to return to the Everton fold, the Toffees should consign their recent offensive woes to the past and boost their survival hopes at the expense of their visitors'.
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Ben Knapton
