Before the postponement of the Merseyside derby, Everton found some light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.
Sean Dyche’s side thumped fellow Premier League bottom-half strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-0 at home to steer clear of the drop zone.
Dyche’s next assignment is to galvanise his team’s away form, with the Toffees heading to North London to take on title-bidding Arsenal.
As Sky Sports takes stock of the impending takeover spearheaded by Dan Friedkin, the ex-Burnley manager’s future at Goodison Park is on the line.
The upcoming trip to the Emirates Stadium kicks off a brutal set of fixtures for Everton as they face Chelsea and Manchester City next.
Unfortunately for Dyche, January promises to be anything but forgiving for the Merseyside outfit.
Except for a low-profile FA Cup tie against third-tier Peterborough United, Everton will take on four teams from the upper half of the Premier League table.
Bournemouth (A) – January 4
The Vitality Stadium has been a fortress this season, with Bournemouth taking three huge scalps.
Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur slumped to defeat on this ground, highlighting the size of the task awaiting the Toffees.
Furthermore, Boscombe hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Everton, as they’ve lost their last three away league meetings with the Cherries.
Aston Villa (H) – January 15
Unai Emery has seemingly steadied the ship following a sub-par eight-game winless run.
Aston Villa have won back-to-back league outings to return into contention for a coveted top-four finish.
However, Everton will have an added motive to hinder the Lions’ progress after squandering a two-goal cushion in a frustrating 3-1 loss in September’s reverse fixture.
Tottenham Hotspur (H) – January 19
Ange Postecoglou’s future in the capital is in the balance after out-of-sorts Tottenham’s squad slipped to the bottom half of the table.
Spurs have almost half of their top-flight matches this season, including three of the last five, meaning this could be an ideal opportunity for Everton to end their rotten run in this match-up.
The Toffees have gone winless in eight successive Premier League encounters against Tottenham since a 1-0 win in September 2020.
Brighton & Hove Albion (A) – January 25
Like Tottenham, Brighton are among the most unpredictable teams in the division, capable of toppling elite clubs but prone to wasting points against lesser opposition.
However, resilience on home turf has been a rare constant for Fabian Hurzeler’s side, as they’ve only lost one of their ten competitive games at the Amex Stadium this term.
Everton are unlikely to be intimidated by Brighton’s imperious form in East Sussex, where they had posted consecutive multi-goal margin wins before last season’s 1-1 draw.