All eyes will be on Yannick Bolasie at Goodison Park tonight when he faces Crystal Palace for the first time since his £25million move to Everton.
And Andros Townsend, the man who replaced him at Palace, knows it will be important for Palace to stop the winger and his bag of tricks on Merseyside.
“Yannick is a fantastic player with the ball at his feet,” said Townsend. “He is incredible. He’s got every trick in the book. If I am on his side of the pitch then I will have to do my defensive job and help out the full-back as much as possible. Our players know what Yannick is about and he’s a great player. I am sure the full-back he is up against will have a tough task but, hopefully, they know him well enough to know his tricks.”
Bolasie made 144 appearances for Palace before leaving for a fee which could rise to £30m.
Palace had already signed Townsend from Newcastle for £13m and the 25‑year‑old has filled the gap he left in the team, as well as taking his No10 shirt.
“There is no added pressure on myself to fill Yannick’s boots,” said Townsend. “I like to come inside and score goals, I think Yannick likes to use his skills and get to the byline and cross the ball. We are completely different players.”
Townsend and Bolasie are likely to be in direct competition at Goodison and Townsend is looking forward to the battle.
“When Newcastle played Palace last season we had a bit of banter because I ran back and dispossessed him,” he said. “So I am sure he will be desperate to get the upper hand. It will be interesting.”
C Palace probable XI (4-2-3-1)
Mandanda; Ward, Tomkins, Delaney, Kelly; McArthur, Cabaye; Zaha, Puncheon, Townsend; Benteke.
A fourth straight win in the Premier League would take Palace level on points with Arsenal in third.
The Eagles came from two goals down to beat Sunderland 3-2 last weekend and Townsend says the significance of that result goes beyond winning three points.
“It gives you that belief that if it happens again then we have come back from here before and we can do it again,” he said.
