TEAM NEWSRonald Koeman has no fresh injury concerns leading into the weekend clash at the Riverside Stadium.
Muhamed Besic and Yannick Bolasie remain on the sidelines with their long-term knee injuries.
Middlesbrough have spent this week preparing for the match with a short training break in Spain.
January signing Adlene Guedioura is pressing for his first Middlesbrough start after making his debut from the bench at White Hart Lane last weekend.
Full-back George Friend is a doubt with calf injury sustained during the 1-0 FA Cup fourth round victory over Accrington Stanley.
FORMIf Everton avoid defeat on Saturday, it will be eight Premier League games unbeaten for the first time since December 2013.
The Toffees travel to the Riverside Stadium having won four out of their last five top-flight matches, the most recent being the dramatic 6-3 triumph over Bournemouth last weekend.
Middlesbrough, 15th in the table, were narrowly defeated 1-0 at Tottenham Hotspur last time out.
Boro are without a league win this year, although they have progressed through the fifth round of the FA Cup following wins over Sheffield Wednesday and Accrington in the competition to date.
Their three home league wins this season have been against Bournemouth (2-0), Hull City (1-0) and Swansea City (3-0).
KEY MAN - ADAM FORSHAW
Everton Academy graduate Forshaw joined the Blues at the age of seven but only went on to make one senior appearance for the Club, against BATE Borisov in December 2009.
In pursuit of first-team football, he joined Brentford - initially on loan - and later Wigan Athletic, before switching to Middlesbrough in January 2015.
The midfielder has been a regular in the time since, helping Aitor Karanka’s side earn automatic promotion last season.
This term he has made 18 appearances in all competitions and was a starter against Spurs last weekend.
LAST MEETING - EVERTON 3-1 MIDDLESBROUGH (17 September, 2016)
Everton emerged winners in the corresponding meeting at Goodison Park in mid-September - a result which maintained Ronald Koeman’s unbeaten start to the season.
A Maarten Stekelenburg own goal, under pressure from Alvaro Negredo, put Boro ahead but Gareth Barry, on his 600th Premier League appearance, levelled matters moments later.
Seamus Coleman's clever finish and a faint Romelu Lukaku touch from Yannick Bolasie’s cross then wrapped up the points for Everton before the break.
Last season, Everton traveled to Teesside in the League Cup and came away 2-0 winners thanks to Gerard Deulofeu and Lukaku.
MAN IN THE MIDDLE - MIKE DEAN
Taking charge of Saturday’s contest is Wirral-born official Dean whose last Everton fixture was the Merseyside derby at Goodison just before Christmas.
That match in December was his first involving Everton or Liverpool for more than a decade.
Prior to that, the previous time he took charge of a game involving the Blues was the 1-1 away draw with Wigan Athletic in January 2006.
LIVE COVERAGEAs always, there will be free live audio commentary of Saturday’s contest here on evertonfc.com.
Click here to listen to broadcast duo Graham Stuart and Darren Griffiths’ coverage of the action on matchday.
You can also get involved in the broadcast by tweeting in your shout-out requests, comments and questions to
Everton using the hashtag #EFCLive.
In addition to our live commentary, look out for the live blog which will bring you updates, imagery, video and team news from the Riverside Stadium. Head to the match centre, the official App or the evertonfc.com homepage on matchday to find it.