The Frank Lampard era begins now for Everton, whose first game under the tutelage of the Chelsea legend takes place on Saturday with the visit of Brentford in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
The Toffees needed extra time to get the better of Hull City in the third round, while Thomas Frank's side ran out convincing 4-1 winners over Port Vale.
Match preview
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It was only fitting to see Frank Lampard's era at Goodison Park begin with the acquisition of two midfielders who will endeavour to add to Everton's goal threat, as Dele Alli and Donny van de Beek prepare to learn from one of the finest lynchpins that the Premier League has had to offer.
Despite his popularity in all quarters, Duncan Ferguson's brief time in interim charge of Everton started and ended with a 1-0 home defeat to Aston Villa courtesy of Emiliano Buendia's header - Steven Gerrard certainly enjoyed that one - and a Toffees side under the tutelage of Rafael Benitez only scraped past Hull in the FA Cup after 120 minutes.
Avoiding a catastrophic relegation and attempting to clamber back up to the top half of the Premier League rankings will be the ultimate goal for Lampard over the next few months, but a cup run would serve to increase the morale in Everton's ranks after a dismal autumnal and festive period.
Early exits have become something of a habit for Everton in the FA Cup, though, with the Toffees only making it to the fifth round or beyond once in the last five editions as they bowed out to Manchester City in the quarter-finals last year.
Defeat to Villa marked a fifth home loss from their last seven in front of their own fans for Everton, and the return of 'Super Frank' to the Premier League touchline will be overshadowed by the deadline-day signing of another celebrated name for the visitors.
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Many feared that Christian Eriksen's days on a football pitch were over after the Denmark international's terrifying cardiac arrest in front of fans, teammates and family at Euro 2020, but only eight months later, the playmaker is ready to pull on the red and white jersey of Brentford.
Eriksen's return to the Premier League is a heart-warming story for all involved who managed to save both his life and playing career, as well as fans of football in general, and the ex-Tottenham Hotspur man will undoubtedly feel in good hands under compatriot Thomas Frank.
On a more pessimistic note, the relegation fears have not been eased just yet for the Bees, who enter Saturday's game having just lost their fourth on the bounce in the Premier League - 2-1 to Wolverhampton Wanderers courtesy of Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves's efforts.
Brentford needed no second invitation to stamp their authority on Port Vale's turf in the third round of the FA Cup, but they have fallen at this stage in the past two editions of the tournament, coincidentally to Leicester City on both occasions.
However, the Bees managed to come up trumps 1-0 when Everton paid a visit to the Brentford Community Stadium back in November, as Ivan Toney's penalty settled the contest, but the striker has found himself in hot water with supporters in recent weeks.
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Team News
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Alli and Van de Beek will both have to wait for their Everton debuts as they are cup-tied for this fixture, and the same goes for Aston Villa loanee Anwar El Ghazi, but Alex Iwobi is back from Africa Cup of Nations duty.
Fabian Delph, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Tom Davies remain in the treatment room for the hosts, who have now been handed yet another scare for Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who took a knock to the knee in training.
Richarlison could therefore lead the line with support from Demarai Gray, but Salomon Rondon bagged a hat-trick while on Venezuela duty and could come into contention if he is deemed fit enough.
As for the visitors, Toney was recently forced to apologise after a video of the 25-year-old saying "f*** Brentford" was leaked online, but there is nothing to suggest that he will not be considered for selection by Frank.
Eriksen will only be considered for a substitute outing if he is ready at all, and Frank also has Tarique Fosu and Julian Jeanvier still recovering from their ailments. David Raya and Josh Dasilva are on the verge of returns, though.
Rico Henry and Mathias Jensen were involved in a nasty clash of heads in the Wolves defeat and will need to be checked before this battle, but Frank Onyeka is back from AFCON and ready to man the midfield.
Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Coleman, Mina, Keane, Godfrey; Townsend, Allan, Gomes, Gordon; Gray; Richarlison
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Fernandez; Ajer, Jansson, Pinnock; Canos, Norgaard, Onyeka, Janelt, Roerslev; Toney, Mbeumo
We say: Everton 2-1 Brentford
Even without Alli or Van de Beek pulling the strings from midfield, the new manager bounce should be in full effect for Everton as Lampard seeks to endear himself to the Goodison Park faithful right away.
Brentford's worrying losing streak before the international break, a lengthy injury list and friction over Toney's comments could all contribute to their downfall here, and we expect the Toffees to avenge their league defeat to Frank's side by booking their spot in round five.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Everton win with a probability of 37.98%. A win for Brentford had a probability of 35.63% and a draw had a probability of 26.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Everton win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.85%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.31%) and 2-0 (6.52%). The likeliest Brentford win was 0-1 (9.48%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.55%). The actual scoreline of 4-1 was predicted with a 1.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Everton would win this match.
