Today begins Everton’s most intense run of games this season. It will see them play nine games in the span of 43 days, intertwined with the holidays. It will very likely be this month and a half of action that will decide whether or not the Toffees have a chance to challenge for European football.

The depth and the age of the roster could certainly come under scrutiny during this time. Some of the team’s biggest contributors are getting long in the tooth: Phil Jagielka (34 years old), Ashley Williams (32), Leighton Baines (nearly 32), Gareth Barry (35), Maarten Stekelenburg (34, but he’s a goalkeeper). That is the club’s defensive backbone and none of them have truly reliable backups.

However, if there is one game they should be fresh for, it is Saturday’s match with Swansea after an international break. The Swans are bad. They have one point from their last seven matches. Their new American manager, Bob Bradley, is already in the hot seat to keep them alive in the Premier League, which could prove to be a tough task. The Welsh side has scored just 10 goals in their 11 league games, while conceding 21 times. Both marks are second-worst in the Prem.

Long story, short: Everton are at home and are clearly the better team. If they don’t win, Ronald Koeman will be very angry. You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.

Match Details

Date and start time: Saturday, November 19 at 10:00 a.m. EST/7 a.m. WST/3:00 p.m. BST

Stadium: Goodison Park, Liverpool, England

Capacity: 39,572

Weather: 43°F/6°C, partly cloudy, 17% chance of rain, 7 mph winds

How to Watch/Listen

TV: none listed - United States

none listed - United Kingdom

Radio: EvertonFC.com Match Centre, TalkSport Radio

Live stream: NBC Sports Live Extra, EvertonTV

Information from LiveSoccerTV.com

Lineups

Everton

Starting XI - Stekeleburg, Baines, Jagielka (c), Williams, Coleman, McCarthy, Gueye, Bolasie, Lennon, Barkley, Lukaku

Bench - Robles, Deulofeu, Mirallas, Cleverley, Valencia, Funes Mori, Holgate

Swansea City

Starting XI - Fabianski, Taylor, Amat, Fernandez, Naughton, Fer, Cork, Fulton, Routledge, Sigurdsson, Barrow

Bench - Nordfeldt, Rangel, van der Hoorn, Ki, Dyer, McBurnie, Borja