October 19 2018

Patrick van Aanholt

On the first match day after the international break, Crystal Palace face Everton away with Hunter Young breaking down the key clashes.

Everton have experienced an up-and-down season so far with them currently sitting in 11th place, but on a two-game winning streak in the league. Ever since coming up, the Eagles have struggled against the Toffees with their last victory coming in the season immediately following promotion. Palace will have a hard time reversing this winless run due to the quality of Everton’s squad, bolstered by another high-spending summer, when they travel to Goodison Park.

Patrick van Aanholt v Theo Walcott

After falling out of favour at Arsenal, Theo Walcott revived his career with a January move to Everton. The British winger has appeared six times this campaign and leads the team in assists to go along with his two goals. The speedy and tricky winger is always a threat to cut in off the right side and look for a shot, or lay it off for a teammate.

The man who will be trusted with limiting Walcott will be Patrick van Aanholt. The Dutch left-back has enjoyed a solid start to the season, starting every game while also contributing to the attack with a goal and an assist. Van Aanholt will have to be careful not to leave space behind him to be exploited when he goes forward like he did when the two teams faced off last season, and Walcott took advantage.

Luka Milivojevic v Gylfi Sigurdsson

The star of the Icelandic national team, Gylfi Sigurdsson, has truly begun to justify the massive price tag that Everton paid for him with his current goal total of four equalling his from all of last season. The central playmaker has appeared in all eight of Everton’s matches and is instrumental to the success of the Toffees as he dictates play and makes all those around him better.

If Luka Milivojevic can contain the impact of Sigurdsson it will go a long way towards helping the Eagles avoid defeat. While the Serbian has not been on the top of his game, he is still looked to as a leader by the Palace dressing room. If Milivojevic can set the tone against Everton early it could not only inspire him, but his teammates as well to a great performance.

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Aaron Wan-Bissaka v Richarlison

Richarlison has rediscovered the brilliant form that evaded him the second half of last term after being reunited with coach Marco Silva who got the best out of him at Watford prior to his dismissal. The Brazilian forward is versatile and has lined up at both striker and wide left for the Toffees and is the joint top scorer with four.

Wherever Richarlision lines up, he will come into contact with Palace starlet Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The Croydon-born right back has enjoyed a stellar start to the season and is receiving attention both nationally and internationally as one of the best up-and-coming defenders in the world. Wan-Bissaka will also be encouraged by playing the full 90 minutes for England’s U21s on Tuesday and will look to build on that momentum.

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