Premier League Everton face a tricky task in the Europa League on Thursday night, as the Toffees host Croatian side Hajduk Split in the play-off round of Europe’s secondary competition.
Everton were unconvincing in the second qualifying round, beating Slovakian team Ruzomberok 2-0 on aggregate. The Toffees also started their Premier League campaign in underwhelming fashion by recording a 1-0 win over Stoke on Saturday.
The Toffees three competitive games have one thing in common. The common theme is that the Merseysiders have looked very solid in defence, but functional rather than exhilarating going forward.
Everton do however have a very good record in the Europa League of late. In fact, the Merseysiders have won seven of their last nine games in the competition, while losing just twice in their last 12 Europa League outings.
The home side also have a good home record in this competition, having won six of their last seven games on home soil. The one blip in that run was a dead-rubber against Russian side Krasnodar in 2014.
Hajduk Split should offer the Toffees a bigger challenge than their rather limited Slovakian opponents in the last round did. The Croatian side made it to this stage of the competition by beating Brondby 2-0 in the last round.
The visitors are five games into their domestic campaign and are currently second place after picking up ten points. Hajduk also have a decent recent record in the Europa League, as they are unbeaten in five games, having recorded four victories.
Joan Carillo’s side have conceded just one goal in their four games in the opening rounds of the competition. However, Everton offers a very different challenge to Hadjuk’s last two opponents.
Forebet predicts that Everton will record a crucial first leg in this clash and head to Croatia for the second leg with something to defend.