Everton vs Leeds Predictions

• Everton have picked up more points on their travels than they have at home this season
• Seven of Everton’s last eight matches have featured under 2.5 goals
• Leeds have only lost one of their last 10 matches across all competitions
• Four of the Whites’ last five league games have featured a maximum of two goals

Toffees lacking creativity

Everton have been a difficult team to predict this season but they have tended to perform better on their travels, with 17 of their 32 points being earned away from Hill Dickinson Stadium.

The Toffees have taken just one point from their last three league fixtures on home soil, but they won 1-0 on the road at title-chasing Aston Villa last weekend.

However, that victory came at a cost, with Jack Grealish sustaining a stress fracture in his foot that will rule him out for an extended period, and he joins fellow creative forces Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Carlos Alcaraz on the treatment table.

Those absentees will dent what is already an Everton team lacking in creativity and they will have to rely even more on their defensive resolve to grind out results, with seven of their last eight matches featuring under 2.5 goals.

In-form Leeds could have the edge

Leeds are also a side that have been relying more on defensive steel than attacking firepower of late, with four of their last five top-flight matches featuring no more than two goals – the exception being their topsy-turvy 4-3 defeat at Newcastle earlier this month.

That St James’ Park disappointment also represents the only loss Leeds have suffered across their last 10 matches in all competitions and they head to Merseyside off the back of victories over Derby in the FA Cup and Fulham in the league.

One goal was enough for Daniel Farke’s side to get the better of Fulham last Saturday and it also finished 1-0 in their favour when they beat Everton at Elland Road in August’s reverse fixture. A repeat scoreline on Monday cannot be ruled out.

Written in the stars for Calvert-Lewin

If there is only one goal scored on Monday night then it could be written in the stars that Leeds forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin is the man to get it against his former club.

Calvert-Lewin spent nine years as an Everton player before leaving last summer and on what will be his first appearance at the Toffees’ new stadium, he will be keen to show his former club what they are missing.

The England international is certainly in form, netting eight goals across his last 10 appearances, and he could end up being the matchwinner on Merseyside.