HomeTeams - PLEvertonEverton v Swansea Preview | Team News, Key Men and Stats

Everton v Swansea Preview | Team News, Key Men and Stats

Roberto Martinez leads his troops out at Goodison Park against a team he knows all about, having played for and managed the Swans in a successful career.

With only a solitary win at home, the Spaniard will be fully aware of the tension on the terraces but will hope that his players can put it to the backs of their minds and play something close to their form against a stubborn Burnley side last time out.

evevsswa

Swansea arrive in the midst of a dip in form with their only win being their last game in the league however they scored a healthy 3-0 win over the hosts in the Capital One Cup. Travelling to Merseyside for the second time in a week will certainly hold no fears for Garry Monk’s impressive young team as they were very close to dumping Liverpool out of the Capital One Cup.

Both teams have decent ball players and a smattering of hard as nails old school types. It promises to be a full-on encounter with goals expected.

Team News

Everton

The Toffees have the luxury of being able to name an unchanged line up from their trip to Burnley, with any injury absentees not due back until the latter part of November at the very earliest.

Swansea

Garry Monk still has an extensive injury list to contend with, six players remaining on the treatment table.

Jordi Amat is one of three players with an outside chance of playing some minutes at Goodison, but in truth this game probably comes just a little too quickly.

Possible Line-Ups

Everton: Howard, Baines, Jagielka, Alcaraz, Coleman, McCarthy, Barry, Osman, Eto’o, Naismith, Lukaku.

Swansea: Fabianski, Taylor, Williams, Fernandez, Rangel, Shelvey, Sung-Yueng, Montero, Routledge, Carroll, Bony.

Interesting Facts

  • Swansea’s Carling Cup win against Everton in 2014 was their first-ever against the Toffees.
  • Since 2011, four of the seven matches between the sides have been 0-0 at half time.
  • Bob Latchford remains the only player to have played for both clubs, although Roberto Martinez has managed both.

Previous Head to Heads

23/09/14 Swansea 3-0 Everton

22/03/14 Everton 3-2 Swansea

22/12/13 Swansea 1-2 Everton

12/01/13 Everton 0-0 Swansea

22/09/12 Swansea 0-3 Everton

24/03/12 Swansea 0-2 Everton

Key Players

Everton: Phil Jagielka

Phil Jagielka is a throwback to the good old days. An honest pro who never gives less than 100 percent and who can be relied upon to provide genuine footballing excellence in each and every game.

The left-back hardly ever puts a foot wrong and the old maxim of “keep it simple” could’ve been invented for the England international.

No nonsense and no slouch when it comes to his defensive attributes, his ability to provide a supplementary attacking presence, as we saw against Liverpool, needs to be reigned in by the visitors or else he could be decisive.

Swansea City: Jonjo Shelvey

After a decent education on the red half of Merseyside, Jonjo Shelvey is developing into the sort of player that England covet.

Shelvey’s wonderful natural ability on the ball complements an incredibly tenacious and hard working ethic that’s not unlike Steven Gerrard in his pomp.

The Romford-born youngster will have to go some way to emulate his old team mate, but his arrival on the periphery of the senior England squad denotes that his star continues to rise, and Everton will need to keep him under wraps if they want to triumph in this one.

Betting Preview

Fancy a flutter? Why not take up the bet of Naismith to score @ 3.0 http://goo.gl/nGWRXM, courtesy of Tailorbet!

Prediction

Roberto Martinez and his players should take some heart from their performance last time out against Burnley. Against a well-drilled Clarets side, Everton were classy in possession and, importantly, decisive in front of goal.

Only one other win in the last eight hint at the problems enveloping the Toffees at present and a comprehensive defeat against the same opposition just over a month ago might well play on their minds.

Home advantage hasn’t really been an advantage this season, the victory against Aston Villa a fortnight ago their first league victory at Goodison Park.

Having said that, the Swans have only triumphed against Everton once in the last three years, that being the most recent (cup) game between the two.

An at times scrappy but entertaining 2-2 draw.

Jason Pettigrove
Jason Pettigrovehttp://www.jasonpettigrove.com
Freelance football journalist specialising in La Liga, working for a large variety of print and digital media. All enquiries to [email protected]
More News

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here