BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE Everton v Cardiff City Venue: Goodison Park Date: Saturday, 15 March TEAM NEWS Everton will assess the fitness of captain Phil Jagielka, who has missed the last two matches with a hamstring strain. Steven Pienaar is a doubt after limping off against Arsenal, but Tim Howard returns after being rested last week. Cardiffs central defender Ben Turner suffered an injury against Fulham last weekend and is a doubt. Juan Cala is available after a stomach bug, leaving manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a near fully-fit squad. MATCH PREVIEW Cardiffs crucial win over Fulham last weekend was only their second in the league under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and has kept them in touch with the pack above. Staying up still looks a tall order; sweating to the last kick of the last day looks a certainty. A recent poll by Wales Online suggested that 76% of respondents agreed with our own Mark Lawrensons assertion on MOTD2 that Cardiff would be higher in the table had Malky Mackay not been sacked. Even so, after beating Fulham, they are one result away from levering themselves out of the bottom three and introducing an element of uncertainty into the minds of those who say relegation is just a matter of time. Whether theyre good enough to get that result at Goodison is highly debatable. The last time Cardiff won back-to-back matches in the top flight was April 1962. As luck would have it those wins over Birmingham and West Ham were followed by a trip to Goodison, which ended in an 8-3 defeat for the Welsh side and all but sealed their relegation (along with Chelsea). They havent played a league fixture at Everton since. Everton have a bit of work to do to get themselves back on track. Roberto Martinez has brought so much promise and optimism to the Toffees that four defeats in eight games have come as something of a shock. That sequence of results has seen their FA Cup run ended and made a top-four finish unlikely. European football, however, is still a very realistic goal. Everton havent featured in Europe for four seasons but, after Manchester Citys win in the League Cup final, sixth should be enough to secure a Europa League place and that might even extend to seventh should Arsenal win the FA Cup. Martinez gave up the chance of a European campaign with Wigan in order to join Everton, and Im sure hed see it as the natural next step on his burgeoning CV. MARK LAWRENSONS PREDICTION - Football Analyst Anything Cardiff get away from home against a team like Everton is just a bonus, but I do not see them getting anything at Goodson Park. The wheels can come off Ole Gunnar Solskjaers side too easily. MATCH FACTS Head-to-head ->Everton are unbeaten in their last nine league meetings with Cardiff at Goodison Park (W6, D3). ->Cardiffs last victory over Everton was 1-0 at home in 1956. Their last triumph at Goodison Park was by the same scoreline in 1926. ->Four of the last six league matches between the clubs have ended level, including the goalless draw at the Cardiff City Stadium last August. Everton ->Everton have lost four of their last six matches in all competitions (W2). Their solitary clean sheet in this period came in their last league match, a 1-0 win over West Ham. ->Each of Evertons last three league matches have been goalless at half-time. In total, the Toffees have failed to score in 17 of their 27 league games before the break. ->They have conceded 27 goals in the league this season - only leaders Chelsea (22) have a better record. ->Roberto Martinezs side are six points better off than at the same stage of last season. ->Everton have won their last six Premier League games played in the month of March and conceded only one goal in the process. Cardiff ->Cardiffs 3-1 win over Fulham last weekend ended a four-match run without a league goal. ->The Bluebirds are enduring an 11-match winless run away from home, losing the last seven (D2, L9). ->Captain Steven Caulker has four league goals this season. The only Premier League defender with more is Seamus Coleman (five). ->All but one of Cardiffs six league victories have come against clubs in the bottom seven of the league table, their 3-2 home win over Manchester City being the exception. ->Cardiff have kept one clean sheet in nine league games under Solskjaer, conceding 18 goals. ->The Bluebirds have the worst first-half record in the Premier League. They have led only twice at half-time and scored just six goals before the interval. Source: BBC Sport
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 11:45:26 +0000
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