Three Everton players at risk of missing Aston Villa clash next month because of Premier League rule

After battling to three impressive draws against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City, Everton's unbeaten streak was brought to an end by an in-form Nottingham Forest side at Goodison Park on Sunday. Former Leeds United and Newcastle United striker Chris Wood put the hosts ahead after 15 minutes before Morgan Gibbs-White added a decisive second goal just after the hour to secure a 2-0 win for the visitors.

The Toffees are still in a strong position to avoid relegation as they sit three points above Leicester City, having played fewer games after the postponement of the Merseyside derby earlier this month due to severe weather. Relegation rivals Wolves - who the Toffees beat 4-0 earlier this month - have hit a strong run of form since the arrival of Vítor Pereira. They are now one point behind Everton after rescuing a late 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

After facing Bournemouth, Sean Dyche's side are in third round FA Cup action at home to Peterborough United. They then welcome Unai Emery's Aston Villa side to Goodison Park on January 15.

Trio of Everton players at risk of suspension against Bournemouth

The Toffees have three players who are at risk of being suspended during Saturday's trip to Bournemouth. Michael Keane, Jordan Pickford and James Tarkowski have all accumulated four yellow cards so far and if any of them are booked against the Cherries, they will be suspended for the visit of Aston Villa next month. Premier League rules state that any players booked five times within their club's first 19 games will be banned for one game. All clubs bar Everton and Liverpool will hit the 19-game threshold during the latest round of games. That is because of the derby being suspended last month, meaning any Merseyside-based players on four yellow cards must avoid bookings this weekend.

Tarkowski picked up a yellow card in the eighth minute against Nottingham Forest while Pickford was cautioned on 65 minutes. Idrissa Gueye and Jarrad Branthwaite were also booked early in the second half but they are on three and two yellow cards, respectively, for the season and are not at risk of hitting the mark for a one-game ban. Players will still be required to keep their discipline even if they avoid bookings at Bournemouth, as 10 yellow cards within 32 games will result in a suspension. Ashley Young is the only Everton player to be suspended for an accumulation of yellow cards this season after picking up five cautions.

Dyche looks ahead to Bournemouth

Toffees boss Dyche wants to see his team 'go and deliver' at Bournemouth as they seek to deliver a response to their loss with Forest. Despite going on a four-game unbeaten run that started with the victory over Wolves and continued with draws against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City, Everton have won just one of their last 10.

Speaking ahead of the weekend trip to the south coast, Dyche said: "Look, they're all tough games. Expectation has probably grown a bit but today we didn't deliver on the expectations. They'll grow again and we've got to go and deliver. Four or five games ago, people were saying, ‘Oh, look at this run’. Well, we've turned over a pretty reasonable points return in that run. So now the next challenge is, every game is a tough game, I've said it before and I'll say it now."

Reflecting on the loss to Forest, he added: "Credit to them because they've done what they've done to a number of teams this season by playing counter-attacking football and doing it very well. So it's a positive comment for them and not doing them down or making any excuses here. From us, incredibly disappointed by our first-half performance. We played ineffective, nothing football, completely the opposite of what the game plan was. So I wasn't pleased with that at half-time, I can assure you. We affected it a bit better second half but you can't give away a second goal like that because when they get noses in front we know they've been strong all season when they've done that and it's a really, really poor goal.

"Both of them are for different reasons. We don't affect the first one with any commitment to head it and clear our lines and recover but the second one is a really poor goal and it's difficult then. We're chasing, we're working and they've got a packed defence and we know that can be difficult to break down."