Everton travel to Nottingham Forest on Saturday evening searching for their first Premier League win since being hit with a 10-point penalty.
Sean Dyche's side were beaten 3-0 by Manchester United at a raucous Goodison Park on Sunday and remain in deep trouble following the punishment.
Match preview
© Reuters
The on-lookers who predicted Everton would still be fine despite the very severe punishment may have had to reevaluate their thoughts after last weekend's set of results in the Premier League.
After Luton Town and Bournemouth, the two sides directly above the relegation zone, both won on Saturday, Everton then suffered a bruising defeat despite the atmosphere that was whipped out of pure anger from the locals in response to the Premier League's decision.
Luton's win in particular was significant, as it means Everton are now five points adrift of safety, as they sit level on points with bottom-of-the-table Burnley.
Despite looking like the more threatening side, especially in the first half, Everton were undone by Alejandro Garnacho's piece of pure brilliance to open the scoring, before the Toffees wasted numerous openings to level proceedings.
Some slack defending allowed United in to score twice more in the second half - once from the penalty spot - as the ground quickly went flat with a demoralised Everton then limping to defeat.
Even though the visitors had a penalty to prop theirs up, Everton still had a higher xG than Man United, and that is something that needs addressing quickly.
Dyche's men have underperformed their xG by 6.6 this season - far and away the biggest margin in the division.
Other than that, Everton have looked rather impressive for large parts of the season, and the defeat to Erik ten Hag's side was just their third in 10 games, in which time they have won six.
Without the 10-point deduction, Everton would still be just two points off the top half, and Dyche making the side solid away from home has been the catalyst behind that.
After winning just three away league games in 38, Everton have now won three of their last four, recording fine victories over Brentford, West Ham United and Crystal Palace.
The Everton fanbase are largely delighted with the job Dyche is doing, and the hierarchy agree, as reports that he is set to be offered a new contract have surfaced this week.
© Reuters
The same cannot be currently said about opposing boss Steve Cooper, who is starting to feel the heat after a run of just one win in nine games for Forest, despite receiving a vote of confidence from club owner Evangelos Marinakis.
After being well below par against Brighton & Hove Albion, Forest were fortunate to be awarded a way back into the game following Lewis Dunk's nonsensical red card, but they still fell to defeat.
On reflection, Forest never looked likely to score despite playing against 10 men for around 30 minutes, until Ryan Yates was denied with the last attack of the game.
Defensive issues continue to plague Cooper's side too, as they have lost six games despite scoring two or more goals since being promoted - the highest tally of any team in the division in that time.
Back-to-back 3-2 defeats have contributed to that, as Forest have scored two goals in four of their last five games but only been able to take four points from a possible 15 available.
Forest are eight points clear of the drop, but they will not want Luton closing the gap on them any further given that Everton have also shown capabilities of picking up points.
Team News
© Reuters
Cooper will be without his main threat in attack in the form of Taiwo Awoniyi for the next few months, after the Nigerian underwent groin surgery recently.
Chris Wood started in the defeat to Brighton, but after an underwhelming performance, Cooper could opt to use Anthony Elanga centrally, with the returning Callum Hudson-Odoi starting out wide.
Divock Origi is unlikely to start, but offers a great option purely for his past record against Everton, a side he has netted six goals against in his career - double the tally of his next favoured opponents.
Ibrahim Sangare missed last weekend's match after returning back from Ivory Coast with severe illness, which Cooper claims has caused significant weight loss, so he is unlikely to return so soon.
There are hopes that centre-back Felipe will be back playing soon, though, after he suffered a further setback in September after briefly returning from the injury that saw him miss pre-season.
Everton captain Seamus Coleman returned to the squad for the first time in over six months against Man United, and given the shaky form of both Ashley Young and Nathan Patterson, it may not be long before he is back in the side.
Young became just the fourth Everton player to score an own goal, concede a penalty and be sent off in the same season after tripping Anthony Martial in the box last weekend, and he has done so in just 12 appearances.
Amadou Onana is set to remain out after missing Belgium duty and the United game with discomfort in his calf, and Beto was a late casualty to the squad after getting a knock on his knee in training.
However, while Beto is set to return, a new issue for Dominic Calvert-Lewin means he could miss out, as Dyche confirmed he trained away from the squad on Thursday in his pre-match press conference.
Dyche is severely restricted in his ability to rotate and experiment given how threadbare the Everton squad is, and backup options Arnaut Danjuma and Youssef Chermiti have not shown any signs that they are capable of stepping up to the first team as of yet.
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Vlachodimos; Aina, Niakhate, Murillo, Toffolo; Mangala, Danilo, Dominguez; Gibbs-White, Elanga, Hudson-Odoi
Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Harrison, Gueye, Garner, Doucoure, McNeil; Beto
We say: Nottingham Forest 1-2 Everton
The hosts must work to rectify their defensive problems of late, while Everton have been very impressive on the road this season.
Forest will miss the threat of Awoniyi in attack as it could be a very similar game to the 2-2 here last season when both sides were fighting for their lives, but the visitors may just edge it this time around.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Andrew Delaney
