Everton vs Norwich City

Goodison Park is the venue as Everton take on dead-last Norwich City in a must-win Premier League fixture.

It took Everton just nine minutes to concede three goals at Aston Villa last time out en route to falling to their first Premier League defeat under new manager Rafael Benitez (W3, D1). Desperate to return to winning ways against basement boys Norwich, the ‘Toffees’ can fall back on their solid recent top-flight H2H record on home soil (W4, D2). When the Merseysiders win, it tends to be in emphatic fashion. Each of Everton’s three Premier League triumphs this season came by a two-goal margin, which has been the case in both previous H2H victories at Goodison. Benitez’s men tend to put their foot on the gas beyond half-time, as witnessed by the fact they’ve amassed 80% of their Premier League goals scored this season in the second half of play (8/10).

Meanwhile, Norwich’s early exchanges this season have already confirmed their reputation as the archetypal ‘yo-yo’ club, as they enter this round as the only side without a single point from five Premier League fixtures. Despite convincingly conquering the Championship last season, the ‘Canaries’ have faltered in England’s top-flight this term, conceding an average of 2.8 goals per Premier League match while scoring just two in return. Taking their previous top-flight experience into account, Daniel Farke’s men have picked up just six points from the last 27 available on the road (W1, D3, L2) and are winless in 14 away from home since beating Everton of all teams in November 2019. A 1-0 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates last time out has seen Farke set an unwanted Premier League record, becoming the first manager in the competition’s history to lose 15 consecutive away games.