We used to have such a great record at Everton until a few years ago. Everton was almost like home away from home for us those days that it would be always 3 points guaranteed. But things have changed since Moyes took over Everton. Now we don't have a good record there in recent years. In fact we have lost our last 2 matches there and are without a win in 5 years. The fact Jenas scored the winner the last time we won there shows you how bad our record has been there in recent years. With us being without Bale, AVB will need all his managerial skills and luck to get a result against Everton.
After winning our last 4 matches, we should be going into this match full of confidence. There is no reason whatsoever why we cannot extend the winning run as long as we have the right mentality. Defoe has been in great form this season. It seems like his goal instincts in front of goal has improved greatly under AVB. With 9 league goals already, he should be looking to get more goals. The return of Adebayor will give us good edge in attack. Just hope Adebayor won't do anything stupid like the red card against Arsenal.
Without Bale, the return of Dembele will be crucial for us. We have won all the matches Dembele has started for us, Hope Dembele will continue to give us the lucky charm. We also need Dembele's creativity to help out attacks. I think how Dembele and Sandro plays in midfield will decide how we perform in this match. Dempsey has been in good form in recent matches. The return of Adebayor might have forced Dempsey to lift his game to keep his place in first 11. Hope Dempsey will have another good match for us. Without Bale, we will need the penetrative runs of Lennon to unlock the Everton defence. A goal or two from Lennon will be of much use to us in this match.
You cannot help but worried about our defence now. Apart from Lloris and Vertonghen, the rest has become shaky and error-prone in defence. Just cannot see us keep a clean sheet in this match even with Lloris in goal. But it will be a great achievement if we do stop Everton from scoring. I think if we can stop Fellaini from scoring, we would have won half the match. Just hope Lloris will organize the defence better especially against freekicks. We cannot afford to let Fellaini free headers as he is good in headers.
We need to beat teams like Everton if we want to stay in touch with the top 3. But since we are without Bale, a draw will be an acceptable result. If we can get a win here, it will greatly boost our confidence in our battle for top 4 or even 3. Hope we will get that moral boosting win !