Leeds United will be hoping to bounce back from a heavy opening-day defeat to Manchester United when they welcome Everton to Elland Road on Saturday.
The Toffees, meanwhile, secured an impressive 3-1 victory over Southampton – meaning they already sit three points clear of Marcelo Bielsa’s side.
📐 | Doucouré's screamer? From all angles? 𝙄𝙨 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩. 🤩@abdoudoucoure16 🚀— Everton (@Everton) August 16, 2021
📐 | Doucouré's screamer? From all angles? 𝙄𝙨 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩. 🤩@abdoudoucoure16 🚀
Following Bruno Fernandes’ opener, Luke Ayling equalised for Leeds with a thunderbolt from outside the penalty area.
However, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men scored four more goals in the second – inflicting a 5-1 thrashing on Leeds.
Still, following a solid end to the previous campaign, Leeds have only lost two of their last 12 Premier League matches.
They are also unbeaten in each of their previous six league games on home soil, so they will be confident of overcoming Everton.
Despite finishing ninth last term, Leeds ended the campaign with the second-worst defensive record in the top 12. If they want to progress this year, they must stop conceding so many goals.
Meanwhile, Everton went behind on 22 minutes last weekend, with a Michael Keane mistake handing Southampton the lead.
But they managed to bounce back in the second half, with goals from Richarlison, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Dominic Calvert-Lewin completing the 3-1 win.
Although they only managed to see 47% possession against Saints, Everton racked up 14 shots – six of which hit the target.
Thanks to a solid end to the previous campaign, the Toffees have only lost two of their last 15 away games in the Premier League.
If they can carry that kind of form into the new season, they could enjoy success against Leeds’ leaky backline.
Head-to-head: Both sides won away from home in this fixture last term, with Leeds winning 1-0 at Goodison Park and Everton claiming a 2-1 victory at Elland Road.
However, the overall head-to-head record between the teams remains even. Both sides have picked up four wins in their past 11 meetings, with the other three games ending in a draw.
Team news: Leeds currently have two players sidelined through injury, with Diego Llorente and Adam Forshaw set to miss Saturday's clash.
On the flip side, Everton will be without James Rodriguez, Moise Kean, Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Andre Gomes this weekend.
Considering the contrasting opening-weekend results of Leeds and Everton, the Toffees will be confident of sealing back-to-back wins on Saturday.
For that reason, Forebet predicts that Everton will net over 1.5 goals and keep a clean sheet on their way to seeing off Leeds.