Romelu Lukaku has recovered from a knock he suffered in the 3-0 win over Newcastle to lead the attack for Everton in their trip to Stoke, meaning Roberto Martinez can name an unchanged line-up.
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Other changes could be in the offing given Stoke’s dip in form, with Xherdan Shaqiri likely to return, especially given his performance in the reverse at Goodison a little over a month ago when Stoke won a ding-dong battle 4-3.
Bryan Oviedo slid in Tom Cleverley after a tidy touch from Ross Barkley in midfield and the Manchester United man was hauled down as he went around Butland.
But Butland’s heroics were in vain as the damage had already been done after a barnstorming first-half from the Blues.
Stoke gifted the visitors a third when defender Philipp Wollscheid’s ball across the field was intercepted by Lennon, who raced toward goal before calmly slotting beyond Butland.
Barkley and Lukaku combined twice to hit the side netting and bring Butland into a fine save respectively, and the Stoke keeper had to be alert again just after the hour mark to deny the Belgian from close range.
– Seamus Coleman scored his first Premier League goal since March 2015 and ended a run of 27 PL appearances without a goal.
Lukaku was given a penalty opportunity early and cashed it in easily, scoring his 16th Premier League goal of the season and tied his career high of 20 total goals in the process.
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Looking at recent meetings in detail, the last goal of the game in three of the last four Premier League matches between these two has been a penalty and on all three occasions it has changed the result.
