Everton host Wolverhampton Wanderers in their penultimate Premier League game of the season Wednesday evening. Wolves have only won once at Goodison Park in the last four decades, which was very recently in their 2018-19 campaign.

VAVEL UK looks back on some classic encounters between the two sides, with the home side very much dominating the history books.

  • Everton 2-0 Wolves, 23rd September 1978

In what turned out to be a contrasting season for both clubs, Everton overcame Wolves in an early season meeting at Goodison. The Wanderers were without two of their star players with both Kenny Hibbitt and John Richards missing the encounter with injuries. 

Gordon Lee and his Everton side were undergoing a rather successful period under his guidance, with goals from Bob Latchford up front proving very valuable for the Toffees.

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It was in fact Latchford who opened the scoring on the day, with Wolves' Derek Parkin being dispossessed outside the box, with the ball falling to John McAlle who strangely, decided to step over the ball rather than clear it. 

McAlle, expecting the ball to roll into the safe hands of Paul Bradshaw in goal, was unaware of Latchford running in behind. The Birmingham-born forward then calmly dribbled past a helpless Bradshaw and slotted the ball in for Everton's opener. 

It was turning out to be a day to forget for McAlle, who later barged Everton forward Micky Walsh over in the box to give the Toffees a penalty. There were no complaints with the decision and Andy King stepped up to thump the ball into the bottom corner, sending Bradshaw the wrong way.

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Thus, Wolves' terrible start of the season continued with Everton marching on up to second place. The Toffees could not maintain their good start however, but did still manage to finish fourth and qualify for next season's UEFA Cup. Wolves meanwhile managed to just about survive, finishing two places above relegation. 

  • Everton 1-1 Wolves, 17th October 2009

An injury depleted Everton side chasing Europa League football hosted a Wolves side with Mick McCarthy at helm, tasked with battling to stay up in the Premier League.

In what was a very scruffy game, a long ball up from Wolves keeper Wayne Hennessey was not dealt with well by Everton defender Joseph Yobo, whose mistimed header put Kevin Doyle in on goal. The Irishman then expertly placed the ball past Tim Howard in goal to put the Wanderers 1-0 up. 

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With Wolves just two minutes away from getting their second league win, up stepped Everton's new signing Diniyar Bilyaletdinov to deny the Midlanders their three points. 

The Toffee's striker  managed to find the Russian unmarked in the box, who placed the ball past Hennessey to equalise in quite dramatic fashion. 

Wolves even had a man sent off at the end with their 6ft 8in towering forward Stefan Maierhofer receiving a second yellow for a late challenge on Howard. The sending off finished off what was both an exciting but frustrating afternoon for Mick McCarthy's men. 

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Everton ended up missing out on Europa League football that season, with their rivals across Stanley Park occupying the space above them to claim the last European place. Wolves on the other hand managed to get to the golden 38 points and lived to fight another season in the top flight.

  • Everton 1-3 Wolves, 2nd February 2019

September 1979 was the last time Wolves had beaten Everton at Goodison Park ahead of this fixture, with Nuno Espírito Santo in the Wolves hot-seat to try and break the hoodoo over the West Midlanders.

Everton had Marco Silva at the helm, whose side were struggling for any sort of form. The Toffees got off to the worst of starts, with Leighton Baines clumsily bringing down Matt Doherty to give Wolves a penalty early on. 

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Rúben Neves stepped up to send Jordan Pickford the wrong way and put Wolves in the lead. Everton equalised not long after though, with a fantastic long range effort from André Gomes, leaving Rui Patrício with no chance of stopping it. 

A powerful header from Raúl Jiménez put Wolves back in front after a pin-point free-kick from João Moutinho found the head of the Mexican, with Pickford helpless to prevent it going in.

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Wolves added another later on to make it three through Leander Dendoncker, with the Belgian volleying the ball home after some good build-up play. 

With Wolves exorcising their Goodison hoodoo and perhaps casting an omen over Marco Silva and the Everton fans, a black cat invaded the pitch and had to be comically chased away by stewards, with the game being paused for a few minutes.

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The final whistle was greeted with boos from the terraces as the Evertonians made their voices heard about the displeasure of the result. Wolves though had finally picked up three points in the blue half of Liverpool.

Wolves went on to finish 7th in the table that season, which was their highest position in the top flight for decades. Everton however, finished in a disappointing 12th place with Silva being sacked mid-way through the season to be replaced by fan favorite Duncan Ferguson.