Everton vs Brentford Preview: Probable Lineups, Prediction, Tactics, Team News & Key Stats

A place in the FA Cup fifth round will be up for grabs when Everton and Brentford face off at Goodison Park in a fourth round tie on Saturday.

Club football has resumed this week following the end of the dreaded international break. The FA Cup recommences this weekend with the fourth round, with twelve games on show on Saturday. Everton will be hoping to kick-start the Frank Lampard era with a bang when they play hosts to Brentford at Goodison Park on the day.

Everton entered the FA Cup in the third round, coming from a goal down to beat Hull City 3-2 after extra-time. But the Toffees most recent form has been nothing short of dreadful, as they have won just two of their last 15 games across all competitions, the FA Cup victory against Hull being one of those. So it is hardly surprising that Rafael Benitez was sacked just months after being appointed.

Like Everton, Brentford also began their FA Cup journey this season in the third round, easing past Port Vale with a 4-1 win, with Bryan Mbuemo scoring a hat-trick. But that cup success represents the Bees’ only win in their last five games, with Thomas Frank’s men losing their four subsequent fixtures.

Everton and Brentford have already locked horns against each other once, with the Bees grabbing a 1-0 win, courtesy of an Ivan Toney penalty in the first half. Ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides, The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at the FA Cup fourth round encounter.

Team News & Tactics

Everton

Everton made several notable signings in the January transfer window, with as many as five players arriving at Goodison Park. But three of them will not be up for selection for new manager Frank Lampard, as Dele Alli, Donny van de Beek and Anwar El Ghazi are cup-tied after featuring for their parent clubs this season.

Nathan Patterson and Vitaliy Mykolenko are at Lampard’s disposal, with the latter likely to get the nod in the left-back berth. Yerry Mina and Michael Keane should start at the heart of the Everton defence, with captain Seamus Coleman likely to be picked ahead of Patterson. There is no looking past Jordan Pickford in goal.

Up ahead in midfield, Lampard will have several players unavailable. As iterated earlier, Alli and van de Beek are cup-tied, while Abdoulaye Doucoure (groin), Fabian Delph (thigh) and Tom Davies (hamstring) are all in the treatment room.

Allan and Andre Gomes are thus likely to form the double-pivot in the middle of the park, with the duo looking to keep things tight in midfield. Demarai Gray will reprise the no. 10 role in the absence of van de Beek and Alli.

Andros Townsend, who is running out of opportunities to impress, and Anthony Gordon will likely flank Gray in the final third. On another day, Richarlison might have featured out wide, but the Brazilian international will spearhead the Everton attack against Brentford as Dominic Calvert-Lewin misses out due to a knock he picked up in training.

Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Coleman, Mina, Keane, Mykolenko; Allan, Gomes; Townsend, Gray, Gordon; Richarlison

Brentford

Like his counterpart in the Everton dugout, Thomas Frank will be unable to call upon January signing Christan Eriksen, as he is yet to resume training. Apart from Eriksen, the Brentford boss will be without three other first-team players.

Mathias Jorgensen (hamstring), Julian Jeanvier (knee) and Tariqe Fosu (hamstring) all remain sidelined. David Raya (knee) and Josh Dasilva (hip) are inching closer to their returns after spending a long time on the sidelines, but the game against Everton will have come too soon for them.

As for the good news, Frank Onyeka is back at Thomas Frank’s disposal after returning from the Africa Cup of Nations. Mathias Jensen and Rico Henry are also available after recovering sufficiently from their respective injuries.

In Raya’s continued absence, Alvaro Fernandez will continue deputising for the first-choice goalkeeper between the sticks. In front of Fernandez, Brentford will line up in the usual 3-5-2 setup, with Kristoffer Ajer, Pontus Jansson and Ethan Pinnock being the three centre-backs.

Up ahead in midfield, Christian Norgaard will hope to hold the fort in front of the defensive line, with Frank Onyeka and Vitaly Janelt likely to accompany the senior midfielder in the middle of the park.

Sergi Canos and Rico Henry should be the two wing-backs, with their delivery holding the key in the final third for Brentford. Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbuemo will form the strike partnership for the visitors against Everton, with the former likely to get picked despite some controversial comments in a recent video.

Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Fernandez; Ajer, Jansson, Pinnock; Canos, Onyeka, Norgaard Janelt, Henry; Toney, Mbeumo

Key Stats

• Saturday’s game will be only the third meeting in the last 68 years between Everton and Brentford, but the second of the season following the Bees’ 1-0 win over the Toffees in the Premier League back in November.
• Brentford will visit Everton for the first time in any competition since February 1954 when the home side ran out 6-1 winners with both sides in the second tier. In that 1953/54 campaign, Everton clinched promotion, while Brentford got relegated.
• Everton will be looking to reach round five of the FA Cup in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2013/14 (4 in a row), with the Toffees going on to progress to at least the quarter-finals in each of the last five campaigns they have made it past round four.
• Brentford have failed to progress from four of their last five FA Cup ties at the fourth round stage, only beating non-league Barnet in 2018/19 during this spell. The Bees have fallen at this stage in each of the previous two campaigns.
• Since he first appeared for Everton in either competition in 2017/18, only Alfie May and Ashley Fletcher (10 each) have scored more home goals across England’s two main domestic cup competitions than Dominic Calvert-Lewin has at Goodison Park, with his nine goals coming in just 10 starts (7 in the League Cup and 2 in the FA Cup).

Player to Watch

Anthony Gordon

While the arrival of Dele Alli and Donny van de Beek could signal a change in the setup at Everton, one player who could be safe from getting axed is Anthony Gordon. The English under-21 international has been one of the rare positives in a dismal season for Everton and could be the player who will have the team built around him in the years to come.

Widely regarded as one of the most promising young attackers in the country, Gordon will aim to convince Frank Lampard from the word go. And the game against Brentford gives the 20-year-old to show the new Everton boss what the fuss is all about after all.

Prediction

Everton 2-1 Brentford

Saturday’s game features two teams in desperate need of turning their fortunes around. But one side could benefit from the famous “new manager bounce”, with Frank Lampard’s arrival likely to boost the performance levels of the Everton players, at least momentarily.

Brentford will be in contention to win the fourth round tie and progress to the fifth round. But the Bees have lost their spunk in the last couple of months and could face a fifth successive defeat in all competitions. Richarlison and Anthony Gordon should be the heroes for Everton, who will beat Brentford 2-1 on Saturday.