TEAM NEWSRoberto Martinez will wait until the last possible moment before deciding whether this Saturday’s trip to Bournemouth is the right time for Leighton Baines to make his first-team return.
Ahead of Saturday’s trip to the south coast, the Blues boss has confirmed there are no fresh injury concerns and he has a similar squad available to select from as he did against Aston Villa, with the possibility of Baines also coming into contention.
Muhamed Besic and Tom Cleverley are both also fit and available for selection.
Bournemouth will check on the condition of goalkeeper Artur Boruc, who missed the draw at Swansea last weekend with a knee injury.
A calf problem is expected to keep Marc Pugh out, while Tommy Elphick, Callum Wilson, Tyrone Mings and Max Gradel are long-term injury victims.
FORMPremier League newcomers Bournemouth have struggled to adapt to life in the top-flight of English football and have won just two of their 12 league games.
Placed second to bottom in the table, the Cherries have lost six of their last 10 fixtures but ended a run of five straight defeats with a 2-2 draw at Swansea in their most recent outing.
However, it could have been much better for Eddie Howe’s side as they let a two-goal lead slip at the Liberty Stadium.
Goals from Joshua King and former Blue Dan Gosling looked to have sent Bournemouth on their way to an important victory but Andre Ayew’s strike and a penalty from Jonjo Shelvey meant they had to settle for a point in Wales.
Meanwhile, Everton will be looking to build on their 4-0 thrashing of Aston Villa at Goodison Park.
The Toffees have won five, drawn five and lost three of their 13 Premier League fixtures so far this term.
LAST MEETING: Bournemouth 0-2 Everton, Tuesday 8 October 1985
There have been just three previous meetings between the sides with Everton winning all of them, including a League Cup second leg victory in the Blues’ only previous trip to Bournemouth.
Leading 3-2 from the first leg win at Goodison Park, Howard Kendall’s side completed the victory to progress to the third round.
Goals from Gary Lineker and Kevin Richardson sealed a 2-0 win at Dean Court to send the hosts out of the competition.
Everton went on to beat Shrewsbury in the fourth round, before being knocked out at Chelsea.
KEY MAN: Matt Ritchie
Starting his career at Portsmouth, Ritchie came through the youth ranks at Fratton Park having been at the club since the age of 13.
The attacker then had spells at Dagenham and Redbridge and Swindon Town before signing for Bournemouth in 2013 where he hit the ground running in his debut season for the south coast side.
A Scotland international, Ritchie was named League One Player of the Year as he helped his new club win promotion to the Championship.
And his impressive form continued into the following campaign where he scored 11 goals and provided 13 assists, helping to fire Eddie Howe’s side into the top-flight for the first time in their history.
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