Garner has been a solid performer for Everton so far this season with his versatility being a real strength. Garner has been deployed as a left back, right back and central midfielder with his shot record remaining consistent wherever he lines up; he is expected to partner Gueye in the middle of the park here, with Everton now having cover at full back.

Garner has had 15 shots across his nine Premier League appearances this season (1.67 per 90). He’s had at least one shot in eight of these appearances, with four of those matches seeing him have two or more attempts at goal. The only game in which he didn’t manage a shot was Everton’s 3-2 win over Wolves on the road.

Garner has already eclipsed his shot total from last season (12-0.68 per 90) in a campaign where he only made 17 league starts due to injury. He’s more settled in a rhythm for Everton this season, and his shot record is really consistent, which warrants looking into Garner at higher lines with the 24-year-old likely to get opportunities around the edge of the box with Sunderland sitting in a low block.

Sunderland’s midfield duo of Noah Sadiki and Granit Xhaka both rank in the top five players in the league when it comes to distance covered. Sadiki, in particular, has been a real asset for the Black Cats with his energy offering a brilliant balance alongside a more experienced player like Xhaka. Habib Diarra really completes the trio, but he is sidelined at the moment.

Sadiki has committed nine fouls across his nine Premier League appearances (1.01 per 90) and will have to contend with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall here, who has been one of Everton’s top-performing players this season. Dewsbury-Hall has won 13 fouls across his eight Premier League appearances this season (1.63 per 90), so he will test Sadiki with his intelligent movement in the middle of the park.

Everton have won 107 fouls across their nine Premier League matches this season (11.8 per game). This represents a substantial increase in their foul won numbers from last season and is only bettered by Newcastle, Aston Villa and Chelsea so far this season.

Robin Roefs has been one of the most impressive components of this Sunderland side with the Dutch keeper keeping four clean sheets and making 33 saves (3.67 per 90) across his nine appearances in the Premier League this term.

Roefs has maintained an excellent save percentage of 82.5% which has been key to Sunderland avoiding defeat in seven of their nine matches in the Premier League this season. Roefs has been forced into making 2+ saves in seven of his nine Premier League matches this season.

Everton have certainly improved as an attacking force in the Premier League this season and have drawn at least one save from the opposition keeper in each of their nine Premier League matches this season. Four of those games have seen the Toffees test the keeper more than once, and they should get opportunities to do that here with Sunderland relying on their keeper quite heavily.

Sunderland are one of five Premier League sides that are yet to lose a game at home this season with Regis Le Bris’ side winning three of their four matches at the Stadium of Light so far this season. They’ve scored eight goals across those matches, striking at least once in each of their clashes against Wolves, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Brentford.

Sunderland starting the season well was key for their survival hopes, as they actually had a pretty fortuitous start to the campaign in terms of the level of opponent they had been facing. They’re about to enter a more challenging period with Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City all to come in their next five matches, so it is important that they get a positive result here to avoid dampening the mood currently surrounding the Stadium of Light. 

Everton haven’t quite found their feet on the road yet this season, with three defeats from their four matches. They’ve conceded seven goals across those games and conceded at least once in each of them. Everton have failed to keep a clean sheet across their last five matches across all competitions, which is a record that should further encourage Sunderland to find the back of the net here.

Trai Hume will line up at right back for Sunderland here, which means that he’ll have the unfortunate task of trying to manage Jack Grealish, who has been sensational for Everton so far this season.

Hume has actually managed to stay out of trouble so far this season with just three fouls across his nine Premier League appearances (0.34 per 90) and no cards. However, we can expect that tally to rise dramatically here with how strong Grealish is when it comes to winning fouls.

Grealish has won 28 fouls across his eight Premier League appearances this season (3.90 per 90). No player in the Premier League has won more fouls than Jack Grealish this season, which makes him a real threat for Hume in this particular clash.

Hume is definitely a more aggressive player than his current stats suggest. He picked up 11 yellow cards last season, and one red card, whilst averaging 1.02 fouls committed per 90, so there is real scope for his foul count to rise here.

Ndiaye finished last season as Everton’s joint-top scorer and is again leading the way so far this term with three goals for the Toffees. Everton look better when you watch them in the final third, but this hasn’t translated to loads of players pitching in with goals - no other Toffee has scored more than one goal in the Premier League this season.

Ndiaye has had nine shots across his nine Premier League appearances this season (1.06 per 90). I can see this tally rising here, only West Ham (133) and Burnley (165) have conceded more shots in the Premier League than Sunderland (121 - 13.4 per game). Everton are currently averaging 11.1 shots per game in the Premier League, so that also has potential to rise here with how Sunderland play, often inviting the opposition onto them.

Ndiaye had two shots in Everton’s 3-0 defeat against Tottenham last time out and can repeat that tally here against a Sunderland side that is conceding the 3rd-most shots in the league. His role as Everton’s biggest goal threat could prove crucial in an Everton side which hasn’t been able to make the most of the attacking situations they create.

I touched on the fact that Everton are winning more fouls as a team this season in an earlier section and this can contribute to a high foul count for the Black Cats here. 

Sunderland are averaging 9.10 fouls committed per game in the Premier League which is one of the tamer records in the top-flight, though I can see it rising here with the work that Everton make the opposition get through off the ball.

The Toffees have won 107 fouls across their nine Premier League matches this season (11.8 per game), with only Chelsea, Newcastle and Aston Villa winning more fouls than Everton this term. Everton have drawn 12+ fouls from the opposition in five of their nine Premier League matches this term.