Everton's well-oiled machine will seek a third Premier League win in four matches when they welcome Burnley to Goodison Park for Monday's top-flight battle.

Rafael Benitez's side prevailed 2-0 against Brighton & Hove Albion before the international break, while the Clarets claimed their first point of the season against Leeds United in a 1-1 draw.

Match preview

In spite of the largely negative reaction to his appointment to the blue half of Merseyside, Benitez has not lost his Premier League nous, with the former Liverpool and Newcastle United coach enjoying quite the start to life as a Toffee.

After comfortably dispatching Southampton and playing out an entertaining 2-2 draw with Leeds United, Everton travelled to the South Coast to take on Brighton on August 28, where Demarai Gray would open the scoring with an impressive solo finish before Dominic Calvert-Lewin's penalty put the tie to bed.

There may have been a minor disagreement over the spot-kick taker as Richarlison sought to make the net ripple, but it was an otherwise faultless day for Everton on the South Coast, with seven points from a possible nine seeing them rise to sixth in the rankings at this embryonic stage.

The Toffees - and Benitez in particular - will be under immense pressure to remain in the continental mix heading into the winter months, but with most of their rivals now set to begin the taxing European and domestic period, there is no time like the present for Everton to continue their rich vein of form.

Not since September 2019 have Everton managed to record three home wins on the bounce, and should Benitez manage to steer his side to another success in front of the Goodison Park faithful, he will surely start to win over the impassioned fanbase sooner rather than later.

Having become synonymous with drab goalless affairs over the past few years, it was no surprise to see Burnley and Newcastle United draw 0-0 in the EFL Cup on August 25, but an inspired performance from Wayne Hennessey in the penalty shootout saw the Clarets pick up their first win of the season before the visit of Leeds.

During a frantic 20 seconds in which the crossbar was hit and a penalty appeal was waved away, Burnley ultimately took the lead as Matthew Lowton's attempt took a nick off Chris Wood and wrong-footed Illan Meslier, but in another episode of pinball, Patrick Bamford levelled for Leeds with four minutes remaining.

As entertaining as that clash at Turf Moor was, Burnley's record of one point from three matches sees them in an all-too familiar position - 16th and dangerously close to the drop zone - and Sean Dyche's side must prepare for clashes with Arsenal and Leicester City before the end of the month.

The Clarets did at least manage to end their five-game losing run in the Premier League with last week's draw, but all four of their most recent league wins have come on the road, and they have not shared the spoils in an away match since the turn of the year.

Burnley memorably prevailed 2-1 at Goodison Park in this fixture last season, and Everton can only boast three wins from their last eight Premier League battles with Dyche's side, although the visitors are yet to test their mettle against Benitez's inspired outfit.

Team News

Dominic Calvert-Lewin was forced to withdraw from the England squad over the international break due to a quadricep problem, but Benitez has revealed that the striker has been pushing through the pain in training and could feature.

There is also optimism that Seamus Coleman will be available, while Yerry Mina and Ben Godfrey could also be in contention, but Fabian Delph and James Rodriguez are expected to remain sidelined.

While other Premier League clubs were initially slapped with FIFA-imposed bans for refusing to release their Brazilian players, Everton forward Richarlison has been spared due to the club's positive relations with the Brazilian FA.

Burnley's new signing Maxwel Cornet may have to wait a little longer for his debut due to a dead leg, while Connor Roberts, Dale Stephens and Kevin Long are definitely unavailable.

Another new arrival in Nathan Collins is progressing well in his recovery but may not be risked just yet, while Dyche may be tempted to name an unchanged side from the draw with Leeds.

Should Dwight McNeil feature as expected, he will become the youngest player to play 100 Premier League games for Burnley at just 21 years and 295 days of age.

Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Coleman, Holgate, Keane, Digne; Townsend, Allan, Doucoure, Gray; Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison

Burnley possible starting lineup:
Pope; Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor; Gudmundsson, Westwood, Brownhill, McNeil; Wood, Barnes

We say: Everton 2-0 Burnley

Burnley should be able to take inspiration from their respectable record against Everton, but that may be where the optimism ends for Dyche's men, who have their work cut out to claim a first win of the season.

Benitez has overseen an eye-catching start to the season at Goodison Park, and in spite of the international break taking its toll on some of his crop, we are still backing another comfortable success for the Toffees.

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