The Match
Live Coverage on ITV1 - Sunday 13:30
Everton enjoyed some extra time off this week thanks to the inclement weather, their scheduled match with Crystal Palace having to be called off due to health and safety concerns. Given the unpredictability of cup competitions, however, it's hard to say whether this will affect Martinez's (or Monk's) team selections this weekend. With Everton possibly giving a first start to striker Lacina Traore, the Swans won't particularly benefit from Romelu Lukaku's absence and with Martinez in the press this week claiming that the FA Cup is a competition we should savour, it's undoubtedly going to be a strong Everton side which takes to the field this Sunday.
Swansea claimed a credible point away at Stoke, and in truth it could (and possibly should) have been all three. Coming off a great derby win in Garry Monk's first game in charge, another great showing from the Swans has given supporters confidence that we're about to witness a swift return to "The Swansea Way", and that previous lacklustre performances may well be a thing of the past. Make no mistake though, Roberto Martinez will be looking to avenge Swansea's previous good results against his Wigan team, and will have his troops fired up for this one, so anything other than another top-notch display from Monk's is likely to be insufficient if we want to progress to the next round of the cup competition.
Prior Form (Most recent at top)
Team News
Provided by resident fitness guru @BenDinnery - make sure to follow him on Twitter for the latest injury news and views
Coming soon...
Completely guessed lineups
Statistics & Trivia
- Everton have won the FA Cup five times whilst Swansea have only managed two semi-final appearances - one in the 1925/26 and the other in 1963/64.
- The last time Swansea went further than the fifth round in the FA Cup was in 1963/64, only to get knocked out by Preston North End in the semi-final.
- Everton will be without their joint top-scorer in the competition, Nikica Jelavic (2), as he joined Hull in January to get more first team opportunities.
- Swansea striker Wilfried Bony will be given an opportunity to add to his tally in the FA Cup, having scored three goals in two games.
- These two sides have met once previously in the FA Cup, in Round 4 in 1954 when the Toffees won 3-0 at home
- Everton have lost just one of their last seven FA Cup games, winning five and drawing one.
- The Swans have won each of their last two FA Cup away games, beating Manchester United and then Birmingham this term, both by a 2-1 scoreline.
- Roberto Martinez’s men have won both their FA Cup games this season by a 4-0 scoreline.
- The Swans have only ever progressed from the fifth round of the FA Cup on three occasions, in 1926, 1927 and in 1964.
- Since leaving Swansea in 2009, Roberto Martinez has met the Swans six times in all competitions with both Wigan and Everton, winning just two (including earlier this season with the Toffees), drawing one and losing three.
- Everton have won six of their last seven competitive matches at Goodison Park.
- Swansea City have won just two of their last 10 competitive away matches, but both of these have been FA Cup games (D3 L5).
Straight from the horse's mouth
Nathan Dyer has fond memories of his time under Roberto Martinez:
“I had a loan spell at Sheffield United that didn’t go too well and then I heard from Swansea. Roberto liked the way I played and thought I would fit in with the style of the team. I’m grateful he showed faith in me.
“I owe him a lot for what he’s done for my career, he set me on a good path, but it would be great to score against Everton and knock him out of the FA Cup.”
http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/Nathan-Dyer-hails-Roberto-Martinez-Swansea-City/story-20631475-detail/story.html#ixzz2tJd8devo
Roberto Martinez had lots of kind things to say about Garry Monk when questioned prior to this matchup:
“Garry Monk was my first big decision as a manager in terms of shaping a squad. I had to decide [whether] to give him a new contract and keep him at the club after a very difficult injury when he ruptured his cruciate ligament.
“I built a new squad around him as I knew that he was the perfect captain and that he would keep that role for the future, knowing that we were going to bring many different foreigners and talents. It’s a nice twist and it will be a nice moment to be up against Garry.
"Garry had that leadership and that DNA of being able to control a group. I think being a captain at Swansea, where the club is so involved in the community, it prepares you.
“He has had time in the last few months, with not playing any football, to have a look around from a distance and put his thoughts together and develop a good method of work.
“The Welsh derby can be as intense as it gets for a new manager coming into one of the south Wales clubs. It was a really good start and then they remained unbeaten against Stoke in another really difficult game.
“It’s showing that this group are reacting well and are in a very good moment of the season, so we are going to expect a difficult and tough encounter.”
http://www.evertonfc.com/news/archive/2014/02/14/martinez-ready-for-monk-reunion?
Analysis
How to predict this game? It's unclear how much rotation is going to take place, but as much as I love Leon Britton I can't see him starting a third game in a week. That, for me, is the big talking point as without Leon we always look a slightly less cohesive unit. This match could prove to be the biggest indication so far of how much of a difference Garry Monk has made - on Jonathan De Guzman in particular.
Since Monk's appointment, we've looked much more like the team we've become used to seeing over the last few years, and early signs are positive. So far though, we've played a poor Cardiff team and a Stoke team who did nothing to impress me, so this is easily going to be Monk's biggest test so far. It'll be very, very interesting to see how we fare against an Everton team who have impressed for the majority of this season, but who have find the going tough of late, and Monk is no doubt relishing the challenge.
I'm short of time today so can't look too much into this game - that's your lot. I do think though that the big difference will be Leon Britton. If De Guzman and Canas put in a display Leon would be proud of, we could get something out of this. If they fall short, we'll likely get nothing.
One thing's for sure - we don't want to draw this game. A replay would potentially see us playing a Tuesday game the same week we'll play on the Thursday in the Europa League, as well as playing on the weekends before and after. That, we do not need.
So, gung ho then? Should be fun.