Newcastle United-Everton Preview

Everton will be hoping to use their European success to inspire a Premier League revival as they welcome Newcastle United to Goodison Park on Sunday.

Roberto Martinez's Everton (6-10-12) beat Dynamo Kiev 2-1 in their Europa League last-16 first leg on Thursday evening, continuing an impressive European run that has been in stark contrast to their showing in domestic football.

The Toffees have won just one of their last 12 in league play to slump dangerously close to the relegation zone. Having qualified for Europe ahead of clubs of the calibre of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur last season, Martinez's side have suffered a disastrous dip in form and are just six points clear of the drop zone with 10 matches remaining.

A win on Sunday would give the Merseyside club a welcome buffer between themselves and the chasing pack, and Martinez is hoping to use the spirit shown in his team's comeback win against Dynamo to spark an improved showing in the league.

"In 90 minutes we saw our season," Martinez said. "In the first 20 minutes we were a bit fearful, didn't want to take risks in our play, we were a little slow and we got frustrated. Then all of a sudden we took control of that moment. As players we changed completely and played with freedom and were a lot quicker in everything we did. For me it was a turning point in the season and understanding what has gone wrong.

"It is not a tactical or technical change between the first 20 minutes and next last hour. It is a real psychological aspect of how you can enjoy your football, how you can be free, how you can have a quick tempo rather than having an approach of too much responsibility. That has been the difference this season."

Sunday's visitors to Goodison are John Carver's Newcastle United (9-8-11), who lie just three places but seven points above the Toffees going into the latest round of matches.

Carver's side have suffered a slump of their own, winning just three of their last 16 in the league to limit themselves to an inevitable mediocre mid-table finish.

The Magpies have been poor on the road of late, winning just one in eight and conceding 25 goals overall away from St James' Park, but midfielder Ryan Taylor is expecting an improved showing from the team in their latest away game thanks to the benefits of their recent weekend off.

"It has been a pretty hectic period, so a bit of time without a game wasn't a bad thing," Taylor said. "We've had a good rest, trained well and are looking forward to Everton.

"It's going to be a tough game because Everton are fighting. They are lower in the table than they would like - or expect - to be, and have had the Europa League to contend with as well. They are not doing so well in the league, and so are going to want to put in a good performance."

Everton go into the game without Bryan Oviedo, Tony Hibbert, Aiden McGeady and Steven Pienaar due to injury, but could welcome back John Stones and Leighton Baines. Newcastle are without a host of influential players for Sunday's clash. Papiss Cisse, Rolando Aarons, Massadio Haidara, Paul Dummett, Siem de Jong, Cheick Tiote and Steven Taylor are all unavailable.

Newcastle won 3-2 when these teams met in late December at St James' Park, ending a run of five games without a win in the fixture. There has been only one clean sheet in the last eight league meetings between these clubs, while Everton have scored 18 goals in that time.