Back in danger of Premier League relegation, Sean Dyche will be hoping for more away-day success as we look ahead to Tuesday’s Premier League clash with our Fulham vs Everton prediction and preview.
Fulham vs Everton Stats: The Quick Hits
- The Opta supercomputer predicts Fulham to triumph against Everton, with the Craven Cottage hosts triumphing in 41.8% of pre-match simulations.
- Fulham are looking to complete their first ever league double over Everton in the 30th campaign in which these teams have met.
- Only Liverpool and Manchester City can better Everton’s five Premier League away wins this term.
Match Preview
Everton may have thought Premier League relegation fears were easing after four straight wins in December but they are back flirting with Championship football next season again ahead of Tuesday’s visit to Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Sean Dyche’s side rallied in response to their 10-point deduction, which the club have appealed, for breaches of Premier League financial and sustainability rulings after beating Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United, Chelsea and Burnley in a spirited pre-Christmas run.
However, Everton – who could face further penalties from the league after being charged again recently along with Forest – sit just one point above 18th-placed Luton Town heading into Matchday 22 after defeats against Tottenham, Manchester City and Wolves before a goalless draw with Aston Villa in their last league outing at Goodison Park.
Jordan Pickford was impressive in the Matchday 21 draw with Unai Emery’s in-form Villa, keeping a league-high seventh clean sheet of the season. The England goalkeeper will expect another tough examination at Craven Cottage on Tuesday, although Fulham have failed to score in nine different Premier League games this term – the most by any side in the competition.
Pickford leading the shutout charts may make people think Dyche’s side are just sitting deep and putting up the barricades but only Tottenham (214) have made more high turnovers than Everton (208) in the Premier League this season, showing they are defending high up the pitch as well as protecting their own penalty area.
There are some principles that Dyche will not throw away in the modern-day game, however, with 33% of Everton’s Premier League goals this season coming from corners (8/24), the highest share in the division. The Toffees keep it simple for their impressive set-piece returns. Just one of their 99 corners so far this term has been taken short, fewer than any other Premier League side.
As for the visitors’ team news, Ashley Young and Séamus Coleman will likely return, albeit not straight into Dyche’s lineup after injury. Dele Alli and Abdoulaye Doucouré remain out, while Idrissa Gueye is still away at the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal. André Gomes also missed Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Luton in the FA Cup fourth round at Goodison Park with an injury.
Fulham are seven points clear of Tuesday’s opponents but are on a run of just one win in five Premier League games after beating Arsenal but losing against Newcastle, Burnley, Bournemouth and Chelsea. The latest defeat to their west London rivals at Stamford Bridge on Matchday 21 was tinged with frustration after Chelsea right-back Malo Gusto was fortunate to avoid a red card for a lunge on Willian before Cole Palmer’s penalty proved the difference.
Marco Silva’s side were also eliminated from the EFL Cup semi-finals by Liverpool as a 1-1 draw on Wednesday at Craven Cottage sent Jürgen Klopp’s side into the final with Chelsea after a 3-2 aggregate triumph. There was more cup misery for Fulham on Saturday as they were dumped out of the FA Cup after a 2-0 home defeat to Newcastle.
In terms of selection, Silva has no real injury concerns – barring the hamstring issue for winger Adama Traoré – though Alex Iwobi, Fodé Ballo-Touré and Calvin Bassey remain at the Africa Cup of Nations. Tim Ream is back to full fitness but playing a backup role to centre-back pairing Diop and Tosin Adarabioyo, while there could be a milestone on Tuesday for Andreas Pereira. Former Manchester United playmaker Pereira could make his 100th Premier League appearance. No Fulham player has been involved in more league goals than him this season (five), while he’s created more chances than any other player for the Cottagers.
Fulham vs Everton Head-to-Head
In what is the 30th different league campaign in which they’ve met, Fulham are looking to complete the league double over Everton for the very first time after Bobby De Cordova-Reid scored the winner in a 1-0 triumph at Goodison Park back in August.
Dyche’s men will not just roll over at Craven Cottage, where Everton have lost only one of their last seven away league games against Fulham (W3 D3), having been beaten in nine of the 10 trips prior (W1).
The Toffees have enjoyed their visits down south, winning three of their four Premier League games in London this season, though they did lose last time out against Tottenham. Only in 2020-21 under Carlo Ancelotti (five) have Everton won more often in the capital in a single Premier League campaign.
Everton must watch out for Raúl Jiménez, however, as the Fulham striker has five Premier League goals against them – his most against an opponent in the competition – though all those strikes came in his first five appearances against the Toffees, failing to score in his last two against the blue half of Merseyside.
Recent Form
Craven Cottage has become a tough place to visit, with Fulham winning four of their last five Premier League home games (L1), against Arsenal, West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Wolves, as many as in their previous 12 at Craven Cottage (D2 L6).
Indeed, each of the Cottagers’ last six Premier League wins have come on home soil – including wins over Sheffield United and Luton – with their last away league win coming at Everton in the opening game of this season.
Everton may have fallen down the league table but only the current top two sides Liverpool (six) and Manchester City (seven) have won more Premier League away games this season than Everton (five).
In stark contrast to previous struggles, five away wins this term for Everton is already one more than they managed in the previous two campaigns combined (four).
Opta Power Rankings
The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system that assigns an ability score to over 13,000 domestic football teams on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world.
Ahead of kick-off on Tuesday, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides:
Fulham vs Everton Prediction
The Opta supercomputer expects Fulham to win on Tuesday, with the hosts victorious in 41.8% of 10,000 pre-match simulations, compared to an Everton triumph in just 28.8%.
A draw appears to be slightly more likely than the visitors succeeding, with a stalemate occurring in 29.4% of data-led scenarios.
Everton currently have a 15.1% chance of going down in Opta’s season simulations, with only Sheffield United (97.6%), Burnley (92.9%), Luton (52.6%) and Nottingham Forest (20.1%) seeing a greater likelihood.
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