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DATE:
Saturday 19th
November 2005
MATCH PREVIEW BY: Martyn Todd Albion tackle Everton this
weekend at the Hawthorns in what is looked upon as a 'must win' game for
both sides.
Whilst both clubs have struggled so far this season, Everton
have recently began to pick up vital points. They gained an impressive 1-1 draw
against Premiership champions Chelsea and then
recorded an excellent 1-0
victory against Birmingham City
at St Andrews. They followed that up with another three points at home
against Middlesbrough, 1-0 again the scoreline.
Coming back to his former club is Kevin Kilbane,
who will be looking
to try and get one over on his former employers. Albion fans all know
that on his day, 'Killer' Kilbane can cause clubs trouble
with his ability out on the left-wing.
I'm going for a 1-0 win for the visitors. COME ON YOU BAGGIES!!! ALBION Baggies' boss
Bryan Robson will be without four players for the visit of David Moyes'
Everton. Hungarian midfielder Zoltan Gera underwent a groin operation on
Tuesday and faces six weeks out of action, on-loan keeper Chris Kirkland
sits out the game having failed to recover from the bruised kidney he
suffered at Bolton, Kevin Campbell has suffered a recurrence of his ankle
injury and left-back Paul Robinson is missing due to suspension. Possible Line-up:
Kuszczak, Watson, Albrechtsen, Gaardsoe, Davies, Clement, Kamara,
Wallwork, Greening, Kanu, Earnshaw. EVERTON The Toffees will
be without injured defensive duo Nuno Valente and Matteo Ferrari. They
join long-term injury victims Gary Naysmith, Lee Carsley and Alessandro
Pistone on the sidelines. Duncan Ferguson is also a doubt after picking up
an illness earlier this week. Possible Line-up:
Martyn, Hibbert, Yobo, Weir, Neville, Davies, Arteta, Cahill, van
der Meyde, Beattie, Bent.
THIS SEASON
The Toffees
currently lie in 16th place in the Barclays Premiership with 10 points from
11 games. James Beattie is the club's leading scorer with three league and
cup goals. Everton have won their last two league games, they beat
Birmingham City 1-0 at St Andrews before beating Middlesbrough by the same
scoreline at
Goodison
Park.
The Merseyside club were knocked out of the UEFA Cup in the 1st round by
Dinamo Bucharest and were beaten in the 3rd round of the Carling Cup by
Middlesbrough. LAST SEASON Finished 4th in the
Barclays Premiership with 61 points. They were knocked out of the FA Cup in
the 5th round by Manchester United and were beaten in the 4th round of the
Carling Cup by Arsenal. Tim Cahill finished the season as Everton's top
goalscorer with 12 league and cup goals. ONES TO WATCH James
Beattie - Big strong and powerful with an eye for goal. The ?6 million hitman
looks to be returning to the form that earned him England recognition. Kevin
Kilbane - Tall pacey midfielder with plenty of skill coupled with a high work
rate. Capable of grabbing spectacular goals as Baggies fans will recall. Tim
Cahill - Hard working and skilful midfielder with an excellent goalscoring
record.
Albion's biggest victory against Everton came in
December 1935 at The Hawthorns, legendary striker W.G. Richardson scoring
two of the goals in a 6-1 victory. Other big wins for the Baggies' include
6-2 in March 1960 when Derek Kevan scored five of the goals, 5-0 in 1923
and 5-2 in 1919.
The Toffees' best result against Albion is 7-1,
achieved in 1893 at Goodison Park, Jack Southworth scoring six of the
goals. Everton have also recorded 6-1, 6-2 and 6-3 victories against the
Baggies over the years.
Albion have won just two of the last 16 league and cup
meetings between the sides.
LAST MEETING AT THE HAWTHORNS
Albion
1-0 Everton Albion: Hoult, Albrechtsen (Scimeca
89), Gaardsoe, Clement, Robinson, Gera, Wallwork, Richardson (Moore 86),
Greening, Campbell, Horsfield.
Subs not used: Chaplow, Kanu, Earnshaw
Everton: Martyn, Hibbert, Weir, Stubbs (Watson 85),
Pistone (Yobo HT), Osman, Arteta, Carsley (Ferguson 75), Cahill, Kilbane,
Bent. Subs not used:
Wright (gk), Plessis
Referee:
Graham Poll (Hertfordshire)
Half-Time:
Albion
0 - 0
Everton
Attendance:
26,805 Sky Sports Match Report: Zoltan Gera's header
boosted West Brom's battle to beat the drop as the hosts edged past Everton
at The Hawthorns. The Hungary international
pounced in the second half of a largely dire game to put The Baggies level
on points with Southampton on the fringe of the relegation zone.
But for Everton, their UEFA Champions League dream is looking
increasingly fragile after the defeat leaves them just one point ahead of
city rivals Liverpool. The first half at The Hawthorns was hardly a
compelling advertisement for The Premiership, with these two teams looking
like they would struggle to stand out in the Sunday league. Chances were at
a premium, with only one shot on target during an opening 45 minutes which
never rose above the mundane. But while that went into Everton's statistics
column, the closest the game came to a goal was on ten minutes after
Alessandro Pistone had carelessly fouled Geoff Horsfield near the corner
flag. Jonathan Greening whipped in a dangerous free kick but Thomas Gaardsoe
could only plant his header against the crossbar from five yards. The
midfielders were straining their necks as the long ball prevailed and, from
one such punt down pitch by David Weir, Marcus Bent found space to shoot
straight at Russell Hoult. Lee Carsley curled an effort wide for the
visitors, while Kieran Richardson and Gera were hopelessly off target with
shots from distance. A mix-up between Hoult and Neil Clement almost gave
Leon Osman a sniff of goal before Carsley required treatment after feeling
the full force of a Gera
thunderbolt. In first half injury time, Ronnie Wallwork's cross caused panic
in the home defence as the match trudged towards a banal stalemate at the
break. It took 15 minutes for the second half to
flicker into life as Everton strung together easily the best passage of play
in the match. Osman and Bent combined to feed Mikel Arteta on the fringes of
the box but, rather than shoot, the Spaniard elected to feed the ball back
to Bent, who rashly launched his attempt into the back of the stands. Then,
on 63 minutes, West Brom scored from their first shot on target in the game.
Everton failed to deal with a bog-standard cross-field pass and Greening
picked up the pieces. He whipped in a deep cross and Gera rose in determined
fashion to head home at the far post. The
goalscorer had a lucky escape five minutes later when the defensive side of
his game was put to the test. Tim Cahill looked to latch on to Kevin
Kilbane's flick-on but appeared to have his arm held by Gera, although the
Australian's theatrical tumble in the box hardly pressed his claims for a
penalty to referee Graham Poll. The Baggies were
denied by the woodwork for the second time in the match on 70 minutes as the
hosts counter-attacked with purpose. Martin Albrechtsen raced on to a long
ball and fed possession to Kieran Richardson. The youngster, on loan from
Manchester United, showed a neat trick or two before slipping a precise pass
into space for Albrechtsen but the Dane's shot rebounded off the base of the
post. Everton struggled to get back into the game
until ten minutes from time when Bent almost took full advantage of poor
West Brom defending. A long ball found its way through to the striker and
his shot swerved ferociously but Hoult reacted quickly to beat the ball
away. After Richardson wasted a great chance for
The Baggies to nick a second goal on the counter-attack, Bent again sought
to test Hoult, only to drag his shot wide. West Brom could have put the seal
on the win two minutes from time as Geoff Horsfield's persistence enabled
him to roll the ball across the six-yard box but Gera's low drive was kept
out by Nigel Martyn.
CURRENT CONNECTIONS
Kevin Kilbane moved to
Albion from Preston North End in 1997. He spent two and a half years at
The Hawthorns before moving to Sunderland. In September 2003 and after
four years at the Stadium of Light he joined Everton in a ?750,000 deal. Albion defender Steve
Watson spent five years at
Goodison
Park,
making over 100 appearances before joining the Baggies
in July.
Kevin Campbell moved to
The Hawthorns from Everton last January on a free transfer after spending
almost six years on Merseyside. PAST CONNECTIONS
Amongst the
players to have turned out at various levels for both clubs are: Walter
Boyes, David Burrows, Stan Davies, Peter Eastoe, Andy Gray, Asa Hartford,
Paul Holmes, Andy King, Ken McNaught, John Thomas, Mickey Thomas and Imre
Varadi.
ALL-TIME LEAGUE & CUP RECORD VS EVERTON LAST TEN MATCHES AGAINST EVERTON
Tickets for this category B game are now on general sale from the East Stand ticket office. |
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Both Albion and Everton are founder members of the Football
League and the very first meeting meeting between the two sides
came during the League's inaugural season in 1888/89. The first game took
place at Everton's Anfield Road ground and Albion ran out 4-1 winners
thanks to two goals from Billy Bassett and one apiece from Walter Perry
and William Hendry. The return game at Stoney Lane saw Albion complete the
double over the Merseysiders thanks to a 1-0 win.
Richardson
28 (Foul)