Defensive stalwart James Tarkowski has been an ever-present for Everton this season, starting 100% of the Toffees’ Premier League fixtures so far. However, while the 31-year-old is as consistent as they come in terms of availability, the defender is just as reliable a performer in the fouls market.

Tarkowski has been committing 1.20 fouls per Premier League game for Everton this term and the ex-Burnley man managed to give at least one free kick away in 16 of his last 19 run-outs in the division. Tarkowski was also collared for a foul when Everton lost to Luton in the reverse league meeting between the clubs in September and another three when the Toffees were toppled by the Hatters in the FA Cup in January.

Carlton Morris is Luton’s leading marksman in the Premier League this season, though his support striker Elijah Adebayo has a better strike rate than his foil and has been averaging a goal every 130.3 minutes for the Hatters in 2023/24. Adebayo returned from injury off the bench against Wolves last weekend and the 26-year-old could be deployed from the start against the Toffees.

Adebayo has done most of his good work at Kenilworth Road this term and seven of his nine Premier League goals were plundered in home fixtures for Luton. That haul included a sensational hat-trick against Brighton and Adebayo seems to excel when backed by the home crowd. The attacker has a knack for scoring in important games, as evidenced by his strikes against Arsenal, Man City and Chelsea among others earlier in the campaign, and Adebayo could step up in another crucial fixture on Friday.

Everton winger Dwight McNeil has been upping his output in the final third of late and the five shots he mustered in the Toffees’ last fixture against Brentford followed the three he racked up against Liverpool three days before that. The 24-year-old has been averaging 1.80 shots per game across the breadth of the campaign, though his average has climbed to 2.66 per appearance over his last nine outings in the Premier League.

McNeil lodged three shots when Everton lost their reverse league encounter with Luton in September and keen to do a favour for old club Burnley in the battle for Premier League survival, the wide midfielder could be extra motivated to chip in with a match-changing moment on Friday. Only two clubs have been conceding more shots per game than Luton this term (17.4), so McNeil should have opportunities to let fly.

The Premier League loves a good plotline and Ross Barkley’s determination to put on a show against his boyhood club on Friday could make him the chief protagonist at Kenilworth Road. The 30-year-old has enjoyed a renaissance for Town under Rob Edwards and Barkley has already chipped in with five goals and four assists in 28 Premier League starts for Luton since his arrival last summer.

When Barkley lined up against his former club Everton at Goodison Park in January, he had four strikes at goal and seemed to be pushing harder than normal to find the net. The attacking midfielder will be just as eager to score against his old employers again on Friday, though his powers of creativity could be just as potent. Barkley has been averaging 1.40 key passes per game for Luton this term and he has the technical talents to either score or assist against the Toffees this week.

Luton centre-forward Carlton Morris has already faced Everton twice this season and the striker was a major handful for the Toffees on each occasion. In the league meeting between the clubs at Goodison Park in September, Morris had three attempts, scoring with one and rattling the woodwork with another of his efforts.

When the 28-year-old spearheaded the Hatters’ attack on Merseyside again for Luton’s FA Cup clash with Everton at the same venue, Morris found the target with three of his four shots, and Town’s leading scorer will back himself to cause more problems against the same opponents on Friday. Morris had another three shots on target in Luton’s loss to Wolves last weekend and he should be just as influential this week.

Alfie Doughty’s delivery from the left flank has been a key part of Luton’s attacking patterns this season, though the wing back has also been an aggressive presence near the sideline for the Hatters. Doughty has been averaging 0.9 fouls per 90 minutes this season and has fouled at least once in ten of his last 13 Premier League appearances for Town.

The 24-year-old has been putting a bit more oomph into his challenges of late however, and Doughty committed two fouls in each of his last two outings against Wolves and Brentford. With so much riding on the result of Luton’s clash with Everton on Friday evening, Doughty’s tackles are certain to be just as full-blooded and he could beat a target of over 1.5 fouls for the third game running.