Crystal Palace v Everton preview: Phil Jagielka out for Toffees
Wednesday 13 April 2016 20:29, UK
Everton will be without captain Phil Jagielka for their Premier League match at Crystal Palace on Wednesday.
The centre-back sustained a hamstring injury during the 1-1 draw at Watford on Saturday that will keep him out of the trip to Selhurst Park and the weekend's meeting with Southampton.
While the result against the Hornets ended a three-match league losing run for Everton, it did little to improve optimism among fans.
Some fans held up banners calling for Martinez to go on Saturday, while the manager was pictured in conversation with a supporter at an U21 game on Monday.
The Toffees are 14th in the league and will fall another place if they are beaten by Palace, who earned their first league win of 2016 at the weekend against Norwich.
The much-needed victory eases Palace's relegation fears and manager Alan Pardew hopes they can build on it.
"We weren't expecting that run to go on as long as it went on," he said. "The first half of this season we got it right, but the second we haven't. We need to address that. The confidence levels, hopefully, have gone up, and our nervousness has disappeared."
Team news
Emmanuel Adebayor may return to the Palace squad after missing the last two matches with injury, but Marouane Chamakh (groin) and James McArthur (ankle) will miss out.
While Jagielka is definitely out for Everton, Tom Cleverley is a doubt after a sustaining a knock against the Hornets, but fellow midfielder Ross Barkley should be fit.
Opta stats
Crystal Palace have lost just one of their last five Premier League games against Everton (W2 D2 L1).
Romelu Lukaku has scored in each of his last three Premier League appearances against the Eagles.
The Toffees have conceded more headed goals than any other team in the top flight this season (12).
Palace's win over Norwich last weekend ended a run of 14 Premier League games without a victory (D5 L9).
Palace have conceded the most fouls in the Premier League this season (409) while Everton have committed the fewest (258).
Roberto Martinez's team have the best shot conversion rate in the Premier League this season scoring with 18% of their attempts.
Charlie Nicholas' prediction
Well, we're obviously well aware of the Everton situation and Roberto Martinez can't hide from the fact that this gifted team are underachieving.
This club has to focus everything on the FA Cup semi-final, although the fans' demands mean Martinez can't take his foot off the gas in the league unless he doesn't mind seeing more banners.
Palace got their win at the weekend which means they can relax again and I think, with Everton focusing on the cup, they will win again.
Charlie predicts: 2-1 (9/1 with Sky Bet)
Betting
Everton are Sky Bet's 6/4 favourites for the victory with Crystal Palace 9/5, while a repeat of their Goodison Park draw is priced at 23/10. The Toffees have drifted out to 6/4 just to secure a top-half finish after picking up a solitary point from their last four games, while Alan Pardew's men are out to 200/1 to be relegated.
Romelu Lukaku is the clear favourite in the first goalscorer market at 4/1, with Connor Wickham rated the hosts' main threat at 6/1
