Mark Lawrenson predicts Everton vs Fulham result as banned Marco Silva returns to Goodison Park
Mark Lawrenson has predicted Everton will get back to winning ways with victory over Marco Silva’s Fulham at Goodison Park.
The ex-Toffees boss has a touchline ban but brings a team to his former home ground on Saturday (15 April) for the first time since he was sacked in December 2019 – on a five-match losing streak in all competitions.
Sean Dyche’s Everton haven’t won since the 1-0 victory over Brentford on 11 March and lost in a disappointing visit to Manchester United last weekend (8 April), but Lawrenson has backed them to use their home advantage to record a much-needed 2-0 victory.
Lawrenson said in his Paddy Power predictions column: “Fulham haven’t won for a while now and they’ve hit the buffers a bit. I’m going for Everton to win as they’re at home. Everton 2-0 Fulham.”
Take advantage
Silva’s work at Craven Cottage this season is just one of the latest examples of the disfunction at Goodison Park where he started well, faded, and was sacked by Farhad Moshiri, but he has hit a miserable run of form just before his return to Merseyside.
The revival under Dyche took a hit at Old Trafford but he now has a major opportunity to right the ship in front of the home fans this weekend.
The absence of Abdoulaye Doucouré following his red card in the draw against Tottenham continues to be a problem for him to address, and captain Seamus Coleman is also set to miss the game.
But the manager revealed in his pre-match press conference that Dominic Calvert-Lewin is back in training [Liverpool Echo, 13 April] so there is a chance that the striker could feature.
The relegation battle remains so tight that one weekend can completely shift the balance, so taking advantage of what has to be considered a significant opportunity is key.
Fulham may be up in 10th but their recent form shows they should be there for the taking if Everton can replicate some of the previous home performances under Dyche.