Less than a week after giving Arsenal a real run for their money, Everton will set their sights on a home victory against Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday.
The Toffees have been in brilliant form, Roberto Martinez adding flair to an already solid core and with it reaping rich rewards which sees them fifth on 28 points from 15 matches, having lost just a single game all season.
Fulham have had a bit of a nightmare campaign thus far, but there were signs of improvement in their last Premier League game - a 2-0 win over Aston Villa - when the Londoners looked more like a team under new manager Rene Meulensteen.
"If you're playing them [Fulham] under Martin Jol, you'd probably think the performances weren't there and, from the players, the effort, from the outside, didn't seem there either," Everton midfielder Gareth Barry told the club's official website.
"I watched the game against Aston Villa and everyone seems to have stepped it up 10 per cent, which always happens with a new manager coming in.
"We've just got to worry about ourselves really. Last week was a massive week for the Club. Obviously we got the confidence up beating Stoke and then from two tough away games, to come away with four points was really good.
"It's easy on the back of two brilliant results for everyone to think we're going to walk all over Fulham but Premier League football doesn't work like that and we need to make sure we're really on our game to get three points."
Meulensteen will be aware of the task at hand having watched Everton enjoy a dream week, where they beat Manchester United at Old Trafford, before standing toe-to-toe against Arsenal in an enthralling match at the Emirates.
Fulham, who have never won at Goodison Park and are yet to come away with even a single point in the Premier League era, are still third from bottom on 13 points from 15 games, but Meulensteen believes the three points against Villa will act as a big confidence-booster when they come up against formidable opposition in Everton at Goodison Park.
"I thought the performance against Spurs was excellent where we didn't get the points that we deserved," the former Manchester United coach said. "But we didn't fall back, we kicked on, plus we played some good football and deserved to win [against Villa]. The best medicine is always to win football matches.
"Good performances build confidence, good results build confidence and the team is in very good spirits. It's a process, which I've explained to the players. It's not something that's easy to turn on and off, but do the basic things right, build from there and hopefully more good results will come our way.
"It's too early to say [if Fulham have turned a corner] but we made a good start. I think that you need a string of games with good results. I explained to the players that as much as the victory was important and two goals were scored, even more important was the clean sheet. That's one of the things you need to get right and correct, first and foremost. If you get clean sheets then you always get points on the board."
Team news: Everton: Leighton Baines remains a doubtful starter with Martinez explaining the left-back had still a little more recovery to go through before making his comeback from a toe fracture. "It's one of those injuries that is so frustrating," Martinez said. "Leighton is feeling great but then when you're trying to do some work, you realise that you've still got the period to heal the [toe] fracture and you need to give it a bit more time.
"I don't think he'll be available for Saturday, even though I wouldn't discount him. But it will probably be a couple of weeks more realistically."
Arouna Kone and Darron Gibson are long-term injury victims.
Fulham: Defender Brede Hangeland is ruled out, while fellow centre-back Fernando Amorebieta is a doubt. Meulensteen is confident of having Darren Bent back from a hamstring problem after the striker returned to training this week.
Key men: Everton: Ross Barkley was the standout player for the Merseyside club against Arsenal, dictating the Everton midfield as almost every attack went through him. The talented playmaker will hope to be equally influential against the Cottagers.
Fulham: Dimitar Berbatov got on the scoresheet in the 2-0 victory over Villa, and while reports of an impending transfer have refused to die down, the Bulgarian will be keen to do his talking on the pitch.
Where to Watch Live
The game is scheduled for an 8.30 pm IST start with no live coverage in India. The match, however, can be live streamed online by clicking HERE. To catch all the action in the U.S., click HERE. Viewers in Australia click HERE. To live stream the game in the Middle East and North Africa can live stream the game HERE.
Expected lineups: Everton: Howard; Coleman, Jagielka, Distin, Oviedo; Barry, McCarthy; Mirallas, Barkley, Pienaar; Lukaku.
Fulham: Stekelenburg; Riether, Senderos, Hughes, Riise; Sidwell, Parker, Karagounis; Dejagah, Berbatov, Kacaniklic.
Prediction: 2-0 to Everton
