With the beginning of the Premier League campaign looming, Everton will play their final pre-season friendly on Friday, as they welcome Dynamo Kiev to Goodison Park.
Following back-to-back defeats, the Toffees posted their first victory of the run of friendlies last time out, beating Championship outfit Blackpool, while their opponents most recently advanced through Champions League qualifying with a second-leg win over Fenerbahce.
Match preview
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After only narrowly avoiding relegation from the Premier League under the management of Frank Lampard at the end of last season, eventually finishing 16th, four points ahead of 18th-placed Burnley, Everton will be hoping for major improvements in the upcoming term.
The Toffees' campaign finished in a defeat to Arsenal, the same side who they kicked off pre-season against, and they were again on the losing side, as Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka hit first-half goals in a 2-0 Gunners win in Baltimore.
In the second game of their US tour, Lampard's men would take on MLS outfit Minnesota United and suffer a concerning 4-0 defeat as Emanuel Reynoso, Luis Amarilla and Abu Danladi got on the scoresheet alongside a Michael Keane own goal, before the Toffees returned to English shores and posted a confidence-boosting victory over Blackpool.
Vitaliy Mykolenko and Tom Davies put them 2-0 up, and Dele Alli hit a second-half double to see the Merseyside outfit depart Bloomfield Road with a 4-2 triumph and turn their attention towards Friday's Dynamo Kiev contest and the beginning of their league campaign.
With Richarlison departing for Tottenham Hotspur over the summer and the defensive duo of James Tarkowski and Ruben Vinagre arriving at Goodison Park, Lampard will hope to see another united performance from his side before they take on Chelsea in their league curtain-raiser in early August.
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They take on a Dynamo Kiev side who arrive in England on a relative high following their progression in Champions League qualifying after a tough year off the pitch, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine put a premature end to their domestic campaign.
Since that decision in April, Mircea Lucescu's side have been involved in sporadic friendlies until returning to a full pre-season schedule in July, playing six matches prior to their second-qualifying-round tie with Fenerbahce and most notably beating Lyon 3-1 while losing 3-0 in the reverse fixture.
On the back of a defeat to Royal Antwerp, the Bilo-syni's first leg against Turkish opposition would end goalless in Poland, before Vitaliy Buyalskyi broke the deadlock around the hour mark in their trip to Istanbul for the second leg on Wednesday.
They looked set to triumph with a 1-0 win over two legs, only for Attila Szalai to force extra time with a late equaliser, but the Ukrainian outfit would eventually prevail as Oleksandr Karavaev hit the decisive goal in the second additional period of 15 minutes.
Having now booked a tie with Sturm Graz in the third qualifying round of Europe's top competition, Lucescu's side will aim to continue building confidence by taking a Premier League scalp on Friday.
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Team News
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After scoring his first two goals in an Everton shirt in their win over Blackpool, Everton midfielder Dele Alli will hope to again prove his worth to Lampard, with the Englishman again set to start in an advanced role, particularly given the fact that winger Demarai Gray and striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin could again be rested amid slight fitness concerns.
Ruben Vinagre will likely feature for the first time following his loan arrival from Sporting Lisbon, while Tarkowski made up part of a new-look back three alongside Yerry Mina and Ben Godfrey at Bloomfield Road.
Salomon Rondon could again lead the line in the absence of Calvert-Lewin and following Richarlison's summer departure, with Anthony Gordon likely joining Alli in support of the Venezuelan frontman.
With another important Champions League contest looming after playing very limited competitive football in recent months, Dynamo Kiev should deploy a full-strength team at Goodison Park to ensure players remain sharp and ready to go against Sturm Graz.
Vitaliy Buyalskyi will again lead the line after hitting the opening goal against Fenerbahce, while Oleksandr Karavaev will hope to feature from the outset, having come off the bench to hit the extra-time winner in that contest.
Captain Sergiy Sydorchuk will continue to lead the side from midfield, with the 31-year-old having now made 284 appearances for the Ukrainian giants.
Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Godfrey, Tarkowski, Mina; Patterson, Davies, Doucoure, Vinagre; Alli, Gordon; Rondon
Dynamo Kiev possible starting lineup:
Bushchan; Karavaev, Zabarnyi, Popov, Dubinchak; Tsygankov, Sydorchuk, Shaparenko, Verbic; Buyalskyi, Besyedin
We say: Everton 2-1 Dynamo Kiev
Dynamo Kiev will travel with momentum following their continental triumph, but Everton will be desperate to post another home victory before their league campaign begins, and we see Lampard's men having just enough to come out on top at Goodison Park.
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Sam Varley
