Year ends at Goodison Park

Last updated : 28 December 2009 By Tony Scholes

It's our 52nd and last game of a year that started with a trip to QPR for an FA Cup tie, saw his win promotion at Wembley and now sees us begin the second half of our first ever season in the Premier League.

We go into the game with twenty points, and probably looking for a similar return in the second half of the season to ensure we stay in this league for another season.

The last time Burnley ended the year with anything other than a defeat was in 2004 when a Graham Branch goal gave us a 1-0 win against Wigan at Turf Moor. The last time a year ended with an away win was thirty years ago and a 3-2 success at Notts County in what was our only away win of the season.

Our Opponents


Everton's season to date hasn't been anything like as successful as it was last season. They ended the 2008/09 season in fifth place and qualified for a place in the Europa League but so far things haven't gone quite so well in the league and they currently sit in fourteenth place, just one point and one place behind Burnley.

When I first started watching football in the 1960s, Everton were one of the wealthier clubs in the country and were always able to bring in the best players. That's certainly no longer the case and that meant David Moyes wasn't able to go out and bringing in the squad strengthening to see them take the next step towards the top four.

They were able to bring in four new players during the summer. Sylvain Distin signed from Portsmouth and he was followed by Diniyar Bilyaletdinov from Lokomotiv Moscow, John Heitinga from Atletico Madrid and finally Lucas Neill who signed in mid-September after letting his contract run out at West Ham. None of them were at Everton for the start of the season.

They've won four times in the league this season, twice at home and twice away. Both home wins came early in the season against Wigan and Blackburn.

Click HERE to see all Everton's results this season


Team News


It's very difficult to gather any team news when a game comes so quickly after the previous game. The only news from the Everton camp is that Phil Neville could be in contention after returning from injury. He was an unused substitute in their 1-1 draw at Sunderland on Boxing Day.

They are without long term injury victims Mikel Arteta, Phil Jagielka and Victor Anchebe whilst also still ruled out are Jack Rodwell, Sylvain Distin and Joseph Yobo.

Their team at Sunderland was: Tim Howard, Leighton Baines, John Heitinga, Lucas Neill, Tony Hibbert, Steven Pienaar, Leon Osman, Marouane Fellaini, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Louis Saha, Tim Cahill. Subs: Carlo Nash, James Vaughan, Phil Neville, Yakubu, Seamus Coleman, Shane Duffy, Jose Baxter.

Click HERE to see the full Everton squad


There are no reporting injuries in the Burnley camp whilst there is good news for Owen Coyle with both Clarke Carlisle and Steven Caldwell in with a chance of a return. Much will depend on whether he wishes to continue with the 4-4-2 formation or revert to using one recognised striker.

If he sticks with 4-4-2 then I expect the same eleven that started against Bolton. If Caldwell is fit, and Coyle opts to revert to a 4-1-4-1 system then it could see Caldwell return for David Nugent with Andre Bikey pushing into midfield.

Saturday's team was: Brian Jensen, Tyrone Mears, Michael Duff, Andre Bikey, Stephen Jordan, Wade Elliott, Kevin McDonald, Graham Alexander, Chris Eagles, David Nugent, Steven Fletcher. Subs: Diego Penny, David Edgar, Christian Kalvenes, Joey Gudjonsson, Fernando Guerrero, Steven Thompson, Robbie Blake.

Last Time


Our last visit to Goodison Park came in January 1976 and was the third game under new manager Joe Brown.

We went into the game next to bottom in the First Division with Everton in eleventh place, a contrast to the previous season when both of us were chasing the title late into the season.

After two defeats, Brown got his first points as Burnley manager as we won the game 3-2. Peter Noble gave us a 1-0 lead four minutes before half time but it lasted only until two minutes into the second half when Everton equalised.

Brian Flynn restored the lead on 73 minutes and three minutes from time Derek Scott looked to have put the game safe with Burnley's third. Everton did pull one back but we held on to win the game. The goals for both Flynn and Scott were their first league goals for Burnley.

The Burnley team was: Gerry Peyton, Derek Scott, Keith Newton, Billy Ingham, Colin Waldron, Jim Thomson, Colin Morris, Brian Flynn, Billy Rodaway, Paul Fletcher, Peter Noble.

Previous games against Everton


Previous 20 Seasons

Season

Div

Ven

Result

Att

Scorers

2009/10

PL

h

1-0

19,983

Elliott



Click HERE to see all our results against Everton