Everton v Fulham: Can the Cottagers beat the Blues?
Everton go into this weekend's game on cloud nine after coming from behind to grab a sensational 4-4 draw with the champions at Old Trafford to reignite the title race.
David Moyes's boys showed so much heart, determination and resilience that they are now favourites to finish in seventh place. However, Fulham are only two points behind the Toffees and could leapfrog them with victory here.
Unfortunately Fulham triumphs at Goodison Park are as rare as sightings of the Loch Ness monster. The Cottagers have only one league victory to their name on the blue half of Merseyside and that came back in 1948. They have lost their past three meetings at Goodison 2-1 and have only managed three away wins in the league all season. But Martin Jol's side are playing some good football and Clint Dempsey is in the form of his life so let's not be so dismissive of their chances.
Everton have really turned it on in the latter part of this campaign, as they always do, but the Goodison faithful have not been treated to a lot of goals. The Toffees (21) have scored fewer than relegation battlers Blackburn Rovers (26) and QPR (23) at home but only Manchester City (10) have conceded fewer at home than Everton (14).
Fulham meanwhile are the joint lowest scorers with Stoke on their travels (11) but only Manchester City, Man United and Chelsea have conceded more on their travels.
It should be an interesting game here as both teams are in form and want to finish as high up the table as possible.
Fulham's last league victory at Goodison Park came on Valentine's Day more than 60 years ago, but there's not a lot of love here for another Fulham win.
Everton v Fulham; Kick Off 3pm April 28 2012
Prediction Panel
|
Arsenal |
Don McMahon |
1 |
V |
0 |
|
Aston Villa |
Frank Pattison |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Blackburn |
Terry Kennedy |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Bolton |
Dave Blackburn |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Chelsea |
Joe Tyler |
0 |
V |
1 |
|
Everton |
Chris Goodwin |
2 |
V |
0 |
|
Fulham |
Neil Springate |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Liverpool |
Mark Williams |
2 |
V |
0 |
|
Man City |
Callum Rothwell |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Man Utd |
Peter Lee |
2 |
V |
0 |
|
Newcastle |
Michael Stout |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Norwich City |
Sue Read |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
QPR |
Arjun Swaminathan |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Stoke City |
Philip Eccleston |
2 |
V |
0 |
|
Sunderland |
Tony Ratton |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Tottenham |
Mike Richards |
3 |
V |
1 |
|
Swansea |
Jim White |
2 |
V |
0 |
|
West Brom |
Andy Wakeman |
2 |
V |
0 |
|
Wigan |
Alan Moore |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Wolves |
Chris Cox |
TBA |
V |
TBA |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OUR EXPERTS |
|
|
|
|
|
Writer |
Colin Illingworth |
3 |
V |
1 |
|
Writer |
Steve Coulter |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Writer |
Phil Bundy |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Writer |
Mitch Waddon |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Writer |
Matt Turner |
TBA |
V |
TBA |
|
Writer |
Chris Pettitt |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Writer |
Hugh Larkin |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Villa fan |
Lynette Ranson |
TBA |
V |
TBA |
|
Blackpool fan |
Phil Trow |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Boro fan |
Sue Gardener |
2 |
V |
2 |
|
Fulham fan |
Russell Goldman |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
Pompey fan |
Dan Taylor |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Pompey fan |
Peter Rendle |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
West Ham fan |
Matthew Beeby |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
West Ham fan |
Nigel Telfer |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Editor |
Antony Melvin |
TBA |
V |
TBA |
Panel Verdict
Looks like a home win for the Toffees.
Home: 26; Draw: 4; Away: 2. TBA 4
* Do we have it right or do you know better? We’d love to hear your views.
