Everton v Dynamo Kyiv preview

Everton FC will hope their opponents' away record augurs well as FC Dynamo Kyiv come to Goodison Park in the UEFA Europa League round of 16 in the hunt for a first win in England.

What they say
Everton manager Roberto Martínez: "We're at that stage of the season where everything is vital. It has been a lot of football, a lot of effort, a lot of good work in this competition and now we need to focus. Dynamo Kyiv are a very, very strong side, unbeaten in the league. The way they have been playing this season, they are going to give us a really interesting test. We have been reaching a high level of performance [in Europe]. We've been facing top teams and it's not like we've been sneaking through."

Dynamo Kyiv coach Serhiy Rebrov: "I'm always watching the Premier League. Here, when you play, all teams are always working on the pitch like crazy and if not the supporters will tell them – that's the difference between the Premier League and other championships. Jeremain Lens sustained a serious injury and that is the reason why he couldn't come today."

Previous meetings
• The sides are meeting for the first time in UEFA competition.

• Everton got the better of FC Metalist Kharkiv over two legs in the first round of the 2007/08 UEFA Cup in their only previous encounter with Ukrainian opposition.

• Dynamo have won only four of their 22 encounters with English sides, and have yet to win in England (D2 L9). They lost 1-0 to Liverpool FC in their only previous trip to Merseyside in the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League first group stage, Jari Litmanen scoring the only goal for the Reds.

Form guide
• Everton have won three of their four European home games this season, a 1-0 defeat by FC Krasnodar on the final day of the group stage their only aberration.

• Dynamo's record in four European away games this season is W2 L2.

• Everton lost out on penalties to ACF Fiorentina – who are also still involved – in their last round of 16 appearance in 2007/08. They have not reached the closing stages of a UEFA competition since the 1984/85 European Cup Winners' Cup, when they beat SK Rapid Wien 3-1 in the final.

• This is Dynamo's first round of 16 appearance since 2010/11, when they memorably overcame Everton's Premier League rivals Manchester City FC en route to a quarter-final exit at the hands of eventual finalists SC Braga.

Trivia and links
• Everton's Romelu Lukaku is the top scorer among the 16 sides left in the UEFA Europa League with six goals since the start of the group stage – five of them in the round of 32 tie against BSC Young Boys. Former FC Salzburg man Alan still leads the way with eight goals, all scored in the group stage before he left to join Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande FC.

• Andriy Yarmolenko is Dynamo's top scorer in the UEFA Europa League this season with three goals.

• Dynamo's Łukasz Teodorczyk is one of six Polish nationals left in the competition who still have the chance of a homecoming when the UEFA Europa League final takes place in Warsaw on 27 May.

• Everton defender Tyias Browning turns 21 on 27 May, the day of the UEFA Europa League final.

• Dynamo's Betão could make his 50th UEFA club competition appearance in the Everton game.

The coaches
• Everton's Spanish manager Roberto Martínez was a midfielder in the English lower leagues with the likes of Wigan Athletic FC and Swansea City AFC, and coached both clubs with notable success, winning the 2012/13 FA Cup with the Latics before being installed at Everton in June 2013.

• Dynamo boss Serhiy Rebrov formed a deadly attacking partnership with Andriy Shevchenko for the Bilo-Syni, though his goals dried up somewhat after moving abroad. Having retired in 2009, Rebrov took a job with Dynamo's youth team, but became head coach in May 2014 after a successful caretaker spell.

• Rebrov played against Everton three times during his spell with Spurs; he scored his first two goals in English football in a 3-2 win against the Toffees on 5 September 2000, but drew a blank in the other games – both draws.