EVERTON v WEST BROMWICH ALBION
Barclays Premier League Saturday 24th August
2013, 3:00pm Goodison Park
MATCH
NOTES
This is the 158th league and cup meeting between Albion and Everton. The Toffees
currently lead the way in the victory stakes with 65 wins compared to Albion's 58.
Albion's
only win in their last 14 league matches at
Goodison
Park
was a 4-1 victory in November 2010 under Roberto Di Matteo.
The two clubs have met once before on August 24,
when in 1955 Albion beat Everton 2-0 at The Hawthorns thanks to two goals from
Derek Kevan.
Albion's last game on this date came in 2010 when
they faced Leyton Orient in a 2nd round Carling Cup tie at the Matchroom
Stadium. The Baggies won 2-0.
Everton's last game on August 24 came in 2011 when
they beat Sheffield United 3-1 in a Carling Cup 2nd round match at Goodison
Park.
Albion's last six games:
Southampton (H) 0-1; Bologna (H,
Fr) 2-0; Cork City (A, Fr) 6-0; Genoa (N, Fr) 0-1; Atromitos (N, Fr) 3-1; Derby
County (A, Fr) 2-0.
Everton's last six games: Norwich City (A) 2-2;
Real Betis (H, Fr) 2-1; Valencia (N, Fr) 0-1; Real Madrid (N, Fr) 1-2; Juventus
(N, Fr) 1-1, 6-5 on pens; Blackburn Rovers (A, Fr) 3-1.
TEAM
NEWS
Albion
Nicolas Anelka is missing after the Baggies granted the
French star indefinite compassionate leave following the death of his close
friend and agent Eric Manasse.
New signing Scott Sinclair is almost certain to start with
Steve Clarke possibly switching to a five man midfield.
Defender Steven Reid is out having suffered a knock in
training whilst long-term injured Zoltan Gera, George Thorne and Adil Nabil
remain sidelined although Thorne has this week returned to full training.
Squad: Foster, Myhill, Olsson, Popov, Ridgewell, Lugano,
McAuley, Dawson, Jones,
Tamas, Yacob, Morrison, Brunt, Dorrans, Mulumbu,
Rosenberg,
Long, Vydra, Berahino, Sinclair.
Everton
Defender Sylvain
Distin is doubtful after suffering a knock at Norwich last week whilst
midfielder Darron Gibson is rated only 50-50 to return following the knee injury
suffered in pre-season.
Tony Hibbert could figure after returning to training but fellow defender
Antolin Alcaraz (hamstring) is out.
Squad:
Howard, Jagielka, Baines, Distin,
Coleman, Osman, Fellaini, Barkley, Mirallas, Pienaar, Jelavic, Robles, Anichebe,
Heitinga, Oviedo,
Naismith, Gibson, Deulofeu, Koné, Stones, Vellios.
QUOTES
Baggies' boss Steve Clarke:
“I was looking at my squad the other day and comparing back to
when we played Everton third game last season. We play them second game this
season and the team I have in mind to start will be nine out of the XI that
started last season. So, that’s not bad, because we beat them. People keep
saying we haven’t got this and that - but what we have got is good.
“There’s no need to put ourselves under pressure. It’s only the second game of
the season and there are nine other teams in the Premier League on zero points.
It’s a difficult game but we think we’ve got enough to go there and get a good
result for West Bromwich Albion - and that’s what we’re going to do.
"Normally a manager takes his style of play with him, whatever club he is at.
The only difference I’ve seen in the Everton performances leading up to this
game is there is a mixture under Roberto Martinez. Last year you understood how
they were going to play, this year they’ve got another way to play. That
probably makes it a little bit more complicated - but we love complicated
challenges.
“Ross Barkley is a name who has been spoken about for a number of years,
especially on Merseyside, where I was working for the other side not long ago.
They always had high hopes and expectations for him. It’s probably taken him a
little bit longer to fulfil his potential but now he is starting to do that and
show he is a really good player. Seamus Coleman was a regular last season and we
know him well. He is a very, very attacking player - similar to Leighton Baines
- so they have two attacking full-backs.
“We know where their threats will come from.”
www.wba.co.uk
Everton
boss Roberto Martinez:
"It's definitely up
there [as a special moment]. The first friendly was special but the first
competitive game will be even more special. It will be an incredible moment. But
football is about players and not managers, and once you get into the
competition all that matters is performing well and winning football matches,
and we won't lose focus of that.
"The support of the fans is going to be vital and I'd rather they focused their
energy towards the players than myself. Always the first home game is a great
memory for a manager but the memory will be around the result and the
performance and the relationship I can see between the fans and the players.
"We are always working towards that and making sure we keep up the levels we
showed against Norwich and, if anything, get better in everything that we did. I
think the performance at Norwich was very good in many aspects. But in football
you can not be fully satisfied unless you win."
www.evertonfc.com
MATCH
ODDS
Result
Albion Win: 5/1, Everton Win: 4/7, Draw:
11/4.
First Goalscorer Albion:
Vydra 9/1, Long 9/1, Rosenberg 11/1, Berahino 12/1, Morrison 16/1, Sinclair
16/1, Brunt 18/1, Dorrans 18/1, Mulumbu 25/1.
Everton: Kone 11/2, Jelavic 11/2, Mirallas 7/1,
Anichebe 7/1, Fellaini 8/1, Deulofeu 9/1, Naismith 11/1, Gueye 12/1, Pienaar
12/1, Baines 14/1, Osman 14/1, Barkley 14/1, Gibson 20/1.
REFEREE
Roger East (Wiltshire)
Refereed two Albion games last season, the 2-1 win
over Sunderland at The Hawthorns in February and the 3-0 defeat at Fulham in
September.
The Wiltshire official took charge of just one
Everton game during the 2012/13 season, the 5-0 win at home to Leyton Orient in
the Capital One Cup in August.
In 44 games last season, East issued 147 yellow
cards and six red, one of which was Baggies' striker Peter Odemwingie at Craven
Cottage.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets are no longer available to Albion fans and
supporters are advised not to travel to Goodison Park without tickets.
WEATHER FORECAST
Partly cloudy with a 20% chance of rain, 17°C.
FIXTURE HISTORY
Both Albion and Everton are founder members of the Football
League and the very first 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 in December, Albion running 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 in what was the last game
of the season, Fred Crabtree the goalscorer.
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 stroll.
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's
last victory against Everton at Goodison Park came in November 2010 under
Roberto Di Matteo. Goals from Paul Scharner, Chris Brunt, Somen Tchoyi and
Youssouf Mulumbu helped the Baggies record a 4-1 win, the club's biggest
victory of the season.
LAST
LEAGUE MEETING AT GOODISON PARK
Everton
2-1 Albion Barclays Premier League Wednesday 30 January 2013, 7:45pm
Everton:
Howard, Jagielka, Heitinga, Distin, Baines, Fellaini, Neville, Osman,
Mirallas (Gibson 64), Pienaar, Anichebe
(Jelavić 83).
Subs not used: Mucha, Oviedo, Naismith, Hitzlsperger, Gueye.
Goalscorers:
Baines 29 & 45+2 (pen)
Albion: Foster,
Jones, McAuley, Olsson, Popov, Thorne (Yacob 43), Brunt, Dorrans, Morrison (Long
62), Thomas (Rosenberg 76), Lukaku. Subs not used: Myhill, Tamas,
Ridgewell,
Fortuné.
Goalscorer:
Long 65
Booked:
Yacob 61 (foul), Dorrans 80 (foul)
Attendance: 31,376
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland)
Everton's Mr Reliable Leighton Baines was their unexpected
matchwinner with two first-half goals as
West Brom's poor run continued
at Goodison Park. The left-back smashed one in from the edge of the area before
converting a penalty - his 10th success from the spot to maintain his 100%
Premier League record. Substitute Shane Long pulled a goal back midway through
the second half but the Baggies, who had won just once in their previous 13
league visits, saw their recent slump extended to just one point from a possible
15.
Victory lightened the mood on the blue half of Merseyside
somewhat after the collapse earlier in the day of an £8.6million deal for FC
Twente midfielder Leroy Fer as the Dutch side refused to accept restructured
payments after the player's medical highlighted an issue. Fans would also have
been questioning manager David Moyes before kick-off after he dropped Nikica
Jelavic. Even accounting for his lack of recent form the striker, substitute in
a Premier League match for the first time since March 13, looked a bold one.
However, Moyes probably reasoned the
Croatia international, who had
not scored against top-flight opposition in seven matches with his last strike
being the last-minute winner against Tottenham on December 9, needed either a
break or a wake-up call.
But it was a surprise that in his absence Baines was the
player to step up to the mark in front of goal, even if one was from the spot.
After
West Brom's first attack, in which Graham Dorrans' shot was blocked by
Sylvain Distin, the visitors appeared to run out of ideas very quickly.
Right-back Billy Jones almost compounded their lack of adventure when his tackle
on the edge of the area saw the ball cannon off Victor Anichebe and float
dangerously wide of the post for what would have been a freakish own goal.
Everton had also contributed little to a game which was flat for almost
half-an-hour with Marouane Fellaini's shot on the turn against the upright from
Anichebe's knockdown - via Baines' cross - their most threatening moment. The
opening goal virtually came out of nowhere - which was precisely where
West Brom's defence were - when the
England international picked up
Leon Osman's pass. With no tackle forthcoming the left-back advanced to the edge
of the area before smashing a shot past Ben Foster. West Brom had George Thorne
carried off on a stretcher just before half-time after a collision with Anichebe
and it proved to be a double blow. Substitute Claudio Jacob's first significant
involvement was to concede the penalty just four minutes after coming on.
Steven Pienaar's backheel released Anichebe on the left of
the area and the Argentina
midfielder, who has missed most of the last eight weeks with injuries, brought
him down. With a man like Baines on spot-kick duty it seems you are
guaranteed a goal - and the 28-year-old did not disappoint by smashing home his
second.
Romelu Lukaku, who had spent most of the opening 45 minutes
running into offside positions, wasted
West Brom's first chance of the
second half when he was off target soon after the restart.
Everton's left continued to be their most profitable avenue
of attack and when Kevin Mirallas cut in he forced a low save out of Foster. The
introduction of Long for James Morrison in the 62nd minute paid immediate
dividends as within three minutes he had pulled one back. Lukaku's diagonal run
saw him break clear of the defence and round goalkeeper Tim Howard but his
cross-shot was bundled up into the air by John Heitinga and Long reacted
quickest to head in. Finally
West Brom found another gear and when Dorrans rattled the crossbar
with a long-range free-kick they began to sense their chance. But Everton proved
they could threaten from set-pieces with Pienaar's curling free-kick tipped over
from Gibson. The South African's next contribution should have brought the
hosts' third goal but when his deflected low shot rebounded off the post Leon
Osman blazed over the open goal from six yards. Jelavic finally replaced
Anichebe with six minutes remaining but could not make an impact in that time.
Fortunately for Everton he was not required, despite some late Baggies pressure,
as they closed the gap on fourth-placed Tottenham to a point.
Sporting Life
CURRENT CONNECTIONS
None.
PAST
CONNECTIONS
Amongst the players to have turned out at various levels for
both clubs are: Brett Angell, Laurie Bell, Walter Boyes, David Burrows,
John Cameron, Kevin Campbell, Stan Davies,
Thomas Dilly, Peter Eastoe, Albert Flewitt, Tony Grant, Andy Gray, Asa Hartford, Paul Holmes, William
Jordan, Kevin Kilbane, Andy King, Ken McNaught, Bruce Rankin, Sid
Rawlings, Fred Rouse, John Thomas, Mickey
Thomas, Imre Varadi and Steve Watson.
Wilf Dixon was a trainer at both clubs.
ALL-TIME LEAGUE & CUP RECORD VS EVERTON
VENUE |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Home |
75 |
40 |
18 |
17 |
149 |
85 |
Away |
79 |
16 |
16 |
47 |
97 |
168 |
Neutral |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
Total |
157 |
58 |
34 |
65 |
249 |
255 |
LAST
TEN MATCHES AGAINST EVERTON
DATE |
COMPETITION |
H/A |
F-A |
GOALSCORERS |
GATE |
Wed 30 Jan 2013 |
Premier League |
A |
1-2 |
Long - Baines 2 (1 pen) |
31,376 |
Sat 01 Sep 2012 |
Premier League |
H |
2-0 |
Long, McAuley |
25,383 |
Sat 31 Mar 2012 |
Premier League |
A |
0-2 |
McAuley (og), Anichebe |
32,051 |
Sun 01 Jan 2012 |
Premier League |
H |
0-1 |
Anichebe |
23,038 |
Wed 21 Sep 2011 |
League Cup |
A |
1-2 aet |
Brunt (pen) - Fellaini, Neville |
17,647 |
Sat 14 May 2011 |
Premier League |
H |
1-0 |
Mulumbu |
25,838 |
Sat 27 Nov 2010 |
Premier League |
A |
4-1 |
Scharner, Brunt, Tchoyi, Mulumbu - Cahill |
35,237 |
Sat 28 Feb 2009 |
Premier League |
A |
0-2 |
Cahill, Saha |
33,898 |
Sat 23 Aug 2008 |
Premier League |
H |
1-2 |
Bednar (pen) - Osman, Yakubu |
26,190 |
Sun 07 May 2006 |
Premier League |
A |
2-2 |
Gera, Martinez - Anichebe, Ferguson |
39,671 |
|