Everton at Burnley: Match Preview

Everton come off the goalless draw at Lille in Europa League with a short trip to Burnley. The Blues will look to continue their winning ways in the Premier League after beating up on Aston Villa 3-0 at Goodison Park last Saturday.

Team News

The good news for Evertonians is that there isn't a lot to report in the way of injuries this week. Kevin Mirallas and John Stones remain out with long-term problems. Arouna Kone and Bryan Oviedo are back in training, but won't play against Burnley. The rest of the first team is available for Sunday.

Manager Roberto Martinez commented on the Everton website about the decision to sit Seamus Coleman and only use James McCarthy very late in the mid-week match against Lille:

"James and Seamus were involved against Aston Villa and were only fully fit a couple of days before that game. There's always a worry if you overload too many playing minutes into a short period of time, that you run the risk of re-injuring. We had to be careful. It was important that they didn't do too much last night in order to play against Burnley."

The Opponent

Manager Sean Dyche took over at Burnley in October of 2012, and led the team to promotion to the Premier League for the 2014-15 season.

Burnley started their 2014-15 campaign with a bang, going ahead of Chelsea in the first match of the season. The team ended up losing that match 3-1, and have yet to win in eight tries. The Clarets lie in the relegation zone with four points from four draws.

The problem for Burnley, much like Aston Villa, has been scoring goals. They have only managed four on the season, though three have come in the past two games. Those goals are divided evenly between four players.

Striker Sam Vokes remains injured, according to the Burnley website. Forward Danny Ings recently returned from injury and should be able to play against Everton. Midfielder Dean Marney will be a game-time decision.

What to Watch For

Everton proved last Saturday that they are a very difficult team to reckon with when players like Ross Barkley, Seamus Coleman, Phil Jagielka, and Romelu Lukaku are all fit, in good form, and on the pitch together. At the same time, Thursday's Europa League match showed how much weaker the team looks when a few of those players don't play. There is no mid-week match next week, so look for Martinez to field his strongest squad.

Everton's defense seems to have turned a corner, not allowing a goal in the last two matches. Burnley, as noted earlier, don't exactly pose a great offensive threat.

The Toffee offense will look to pick up where it left off last Saturday, and Evertonians will hope for another positive showing from Lukaku. Steven Naismith will return to the team after not traveling to France and look to continue his excellent start to the season. Martinez may even find some Premier League minutes for Samuel Eto'o, as the Liverpool Echo reported on Friday.

Time and TV

The match was originally scheduled for October 25th, but was moved for broadcast on Sky Sports.

UK - 13:30, Sky Sports 1

USA - 9:30am EST, NBC Sports Live Extra

Also:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>The hour goes back in the UK tonight, so Sunday&#39;s kick-offs are GMT: Burnley v Everton, Spurs v Newcastle (1330), Man Utd v Chelsea (1600)</p>&mdash; Premier League (@premierleague) <a href="https://twitter.com/premierleague/status/526105454296842240">October 25, 2014</a></blockquote>

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