By Alyce Collett 21/03/2025
Above: Brian Sørensen of Everton. Photo: Harvey Todd for Impetus
It is another important week for Brian Sørensen and his Everton charges as they prepare to face relegation battlers Crystal Palace at home tomorrow.
Looking ahead to the clash with Palace, it was mixed news on the injury front.
Clare Wheeler has been sick but Sørensen is confident she will play a role against Crystal Palace, even if not the whole match. Melissa Lawley copped a bit of what the Everton boss described as “a kick earlier in the week” but is back on the pitch and training. However, Louna Ribadeira is likely now out for the rest of the season after having surgery on her foot.
After last weekend’s action, tomorrow’s clash has a completely new context surrounding it. Everton and Crystal Palace are coming off being on opposing sides of 3-1 results, with the Toffees going down to Arsenal and Crystal Palace beating Aston Villa.
With the potential of Crystal Palace only being four points behind Everton by the end of the weekend if the result goes the visitors’ way, Sørrnsen is aware of the pressure his side is under. “It is really important and we know that also” The Toffees boss stressed. “But again, it’s 90 minutes of football and everything can happen in terms of we could be very dominant and they find two right moments to hurt us on and we’re hitting the post or vice versa.“
When asked what is like coming up against a side that is fighting to stay in the top tier, Sørensen said that “I think it’s like all other games, we need to be well prepared. We need to understand the threats and try to neutralize them, and we need to be at our best and also match them in energy and in fight.”
Sørensen added that he expects Palace to fight for their WSL place: “So I expect a tough game. And they were thrown a lifeboat last weekend, so they also know if they can go on and do the same tomorrow then they will be in a good place for the last five games of the season.”
He also noted that since new Palace manager Leif Smerud took over from Laura Kaminski, the biggest change in Palace that the Merseysiders’ boss has noticed is “a bit more playing to their strengths in terms of defending as a unit but also attacking and finding the moments to attack.”
Reflecting on the season, since the turn of the year one of the most notable areas of growth for the Toffees has been in attack.
While Sørensen agreed that the injection of Kelly Gago has been a huge boost for his side “because that was one of the areas we’ve been lacking in, so it’s been good”, he also noted that it’s broader than just Gago’s influence, praising the efforts of Toni Payne, Katja Snoeijs and Hono Hyashi.
Everton v Crystal Palace kicks off on Saturday at 14:00 GMT.
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