George Overhill

Mon 27 November 2023 20:10, UK

The trip to Nottingham Forest next weekend is now a “huge, huge game” for Everton after the 3-0 defeat at home to Manchester United, according to Roy Keane.

The Sky Sports pundit spoke live on the broadcaster’s match coverage of the Goodison Park clash on 26 November to advise Sean Dyche and the Toffees not to look past their next fixture at the City Ground.

The Toffees’ 10-point deduction leaves them 19th in the table when without it they would be a point better off than Steve Cooper’s men heading into the weekend, as Keane noted the hosts are also under pressure and warned Everton they don’t want to be left any further adrift despite a general confidence in them escaping relegation danger still.

Keane said (7.04pm): “I think it’s a huge game. But Everton’s results have been decent away from home, they’ll obviously take a good following down there.

“Forest are under a little bit of pressure so I know it’s early in the season but that’s set up to be a huge, huge game.

“Psychologically Everton, we’re saying they’re going to get out of it, but they certainly don’t want the gap to get wider so big game next weekend.

“I know you can look ahead. It might sound a bit old-school, just focus on the next game. You can’t look beyond that because it’s such an important game for both clubs.”

Focus

Everton were unfortunate to be beaten so heavily by United on a night where the fans had turned out in force to make their displeasure at the Premier League resoundingly clear.

In that context the worst thing duly arrived within minutes as Alejandro Garnacho’s overhead kick to open the scoring stunned the home fans and players out of their focus.

The atmosphere did soon return and Dyche’s side responded but couldn’t find the net while they were dominant and ultimately saw the opportunity to make a statement go begging.

However, it’s true that the Toffees have been better away from home this season in a remarkable turnaround from recent years.

While Everton have been in good enough form to inspire confidence in their ability to overcome being dumped into the bottom three they will need to get some points on the board sooner rather than later or the pressure will quickly build.

A trip to Forest, who have only won twice in the past three months in the top flight, is a golden opportunity to get back into the rhythm they were in before all hell broke loose over the international break.

In other Everton news, Andy Burnham’s attempt to get the points deduction declared null and void has been met by a scathing response from a lawyer.