Everton ended an unwelcome ten-month spell without an away win with a comfortable win over newly promoted Ipswich Town last weekend. Coincidentally, the Blues last picked up all three points on opposition soil against another newcomer to the Premier League, Sean Dyche's old team, Burnley – then led by Vincent Kompany.

The Toffees are currently enjoying a run of four league games without defeat, which has stabilized the team after a poor start to the season. They hope to continue this in the late afternoon kick-off when they host Fulham to Goodison Park.

Form

Former Everton manager Marco Silva led the Cottagers to 13th place last season – a slight drop from 10th place the previous season. However, this was somewhat mitigated as the club had endured a summer of turmoil, losing star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic and at one point even Silva himself appeared to be on the way out.

Last summer was much more stable and Fulham supported their man on the market with a net €22.8 million. They led to a bit of a shake-up in the squad, with regular players such as Willian, Tim Ream, Tosin Adarabioyo and Bobby De Cordova-Reid all leaving on free transfers but with significant funding coming in and defensive midfielder João Palhinha eventually making his move Bayern Munich (€51.0m) and €21.8m were recovered from Birmingham City for young striker Jay Stansfield.

The west Londoners have signed six new players, but Silva has been careful not to disrupt the established squad too much and has slowly integrated them. Only attacking midfielder Emile Smith-Rowe (arsenal31.8 million euros) and Crystal Palace central defender Joachim Andersen (29.5 million euros) have so far fought their way into the starting eleven, with midfielder Sander Berge (23.6 euros, from Burnley) and Arsenal's Reiss Nelson (on loan) The main contributor to this so far has been the substitute bench.

Fulham started the new season with a late defeat against Manchester Unitedbut recovered with the victory over Leicester Cityonly to be hosted next time by another promoted team in Ipswich. They were the better team against West Ham United but were unable to secure victory. Two good wins followed – at Craven Cottage Newcastle Unitedand then on the road in Nottingham Forest. They arrive at Goodison with two defeats, first in a 3-2 thriller against Manchester Cityat the Etihad Stadium and then last weekend when they lost to Aston Villa after Andersen was sent off just after the hour mark.

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They sit tenth in the table at the start of the weekend's games, three points ahead of Everton.

Play style

Staying true to his playing system, Silva has gone back to the 4-2-3-1 formation he favored last season, although against Tractor Boys he used the similar 4-3-3 and switched to a 5-4 -1 at City a few weeks ago. However, it is expected that he will play in his preferred formation tonight.

His approach hasn't changed too much since his time at Liverpool and is to prioritize attacking play and a build-up based on short passes. However, he has learned some hard lessons in those dark days at Everton and playing against his Fulham side is not as easy as it was against the Blues.

In terms of ball possession percentage (49.3%) and pass completion (84.5%), they are in the middle of the field. Only 9.9% of their passes go long distance, but Fulham are a fairly strong crossing side, attempting 22 per game, which ranks third in the league. The Cottagers prefer a balanced attack, while Everton are heavily focused on the right side. They produce 14.4 shots per 90 minutes, although their xG (expected goals) value of 12.6 exceeds the number they actually scored (11). With the exception of one penalty, all goals came from the game.

Defensively, today's visitors were reasonably solid, allowing an average of just 13.4 shots on net per 90, which puts them ninth in the league. They have conceded 11 times, with an xGA (Expected Goals Allowed) of 9.8, so they are slightly underperforming in both attack and defense. One weakness that will certainly be tested today is set pieces, with four of the goals scored coming from dead balls.

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Player Rating

Bernd Leno is an experienced goalkeeper, has proven to be a skilful signing and is one of several former Arsenal players brought to the club. However, he is currently not at his best as he has been beaten 11 times with a PSxG (Post-Shot Expected Goals) of 8.6, which is quite an underperformance. Last year, his shot stopping fell in the bottom 18th percentile among players operating in major European leagues.

Raul Jimenez is enjoying a late-career resurgence. The 33-year-old scored a brace against Luton Town, who signed him off, last season and has already scored four goals this season. In his prime a few years ago he was an absolute striker combining physical presence, intelligent movement, precise finishing and decent pace, and now he is back at that level.

Another ex-Wolves man playing well is Adama Traore. The powerful and fast right winger attempts 5.8 dribbles with a success rate of 52.5% and carries the ball into the opponent's area 2.17 times per 90.

Ex-Blue Alex Iwobi and former United outsider Andreas Pereira ensure creativity among the visitors. The former generates a team-high 4.00 SCA (Shot-Creating Actions) per 90 from open play, while the latter leads the team with a SCA of 6.05, with more than half of that total coming from set pieces.

Solution

The loss of Andersen to suspension after the Dane received a red card at the Etihad will hurt the visitors today. He is the Londoners' most dominant aerial defender and could probably have kept up well with Everton's top scorer Dominic Calvert-Lewin. In addition, he strengthened the team in defending corners and free kicks, which had been a weak point all season.

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It's a no-brainer for the hosts to exploit this weakness, especially in Andersen's absence. To achieve this, the Blues will need to get their bodies much higher up than they did in their last home game against Newcastle, when they registered no corners at all. I assume that Everton will also want to move players into Fulham's penalty area during regular play to provide attack points for crosses.

As for the home side's likely starting XI, Dyche will want to maintain continuity where possible and I expect the only changes will be in central defense, with Jarrad Branthwaite coming on for Michael Keane – possibly alongside right-back. Ashley Young has performed well in both full-back spots in recent games, but with Seamus Coleman and Nathan Patterson both available, it is uncertain who the manager will prefer. Still, I can't imagine that the Scot will be preferred to one of the two veterans.

Fulham are a very good Premier League team who have beaten Everton every time at Goodison since Silva's arrival. Dyche has failed to pick up any wins against the Londoners since his stint on Merseyside and will be looking to end this dismal spell and continue to build some momentum heading into what is expected to be a challenging December. While the Blues have the wherewithal to avoid defeat, they should really aim higher at home against such strong opponents.

Prediction: Everton 1-1 Fulham

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