A look at the potential changes to the starting 11 that Sean Dyche could make for Everton's home game against Wolverhampton Wanderers
Sport
Everton strikers Armando Broja, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Beto and Youssef Chermiti
Everton strikers Armando Broja, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Beto and Youssef Chermiti
Sean Dyche could be tempted to shuffle his pack for Everton’s huge Wednesday night showdown against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Goodison Park after his side were thrashed 4-0 at Manchester United on Sunday. With the Blues looking for only a second home win in the Premier League in what is their historic final season at Goodison, the stakes have risen even higher.
Everton will be looking to avoid the ignominy of Wolves beating them, a result that would potentially see the West Midlands outfit climb out of the relegation zone and leapfrog them in the table. Jordan Pickford couldn’t be blamed for any of the goals he conceded last time out and kept the score down with some alert goalkeeping so England’s number one looks set to retain his place but there is plenty of scope for changes in front of him.
At right-back, Ashley Young had a disappointing return to Old Trafford but while the 39-year-old was given a warm ovation by the home crowd when he made way for Nathan Patterson on 74 minutes, having finally made his first appearance of the season, could the Scotland international be pushing for a start?
READ MORE: Everton takeover by Friedkin Group latest as crucial period approachesREAD MORE: Everton defender becomes transfer target for multiple clubs as contract ticks down
Club captain Seamus Coleman could also be in contention having been on the bench against Manchester United with the option of moving Young over to left-back at the expense of Vitalii Mykolenko who endured a miserable afternoon, being ran ragged by Amad and caught badly out of position for the third goal.
In the centre-back berths, Jarrad Branthwaite and James Tarkowski were the solid partnership that ensured only Arsenal kept more Premier League clean sheets than Everton last season, but both were guilty of costly errors against the Red Devils. Branthwaite, who had already deflected Marcus Rashford’s shot into his own net for the opener, had his pocket picked by Amad in the build-up to the second goal while the same winger capitalised on Tarkowski’s hesitancy to nip in and set up Joshua Zirkzee for the fourth.
Jake O’Brien came on for Tarkowski on 82 minutes and will be hoping to get a first Premier League start for the Blues against Wolves while Michael Keane, who has already played 11 times this term, but missed Sunday’s game with a knock who also have a chance but at the time of writing it’s understood that he is likely to be absent again.
In central midfield, there were plenty of Evertonians left scratching their heads that Orel Mangala wasn’t handed a start last time out and in a week of three fixtures in seven days, the Belgium international could come in for either 35-year-old Idrissa Gueye or Abdoulaye Doucoure, whose back pass put Branthwaite in trouble for United’s second goal.
Doucoure of course could be moved further forwards again into the ‘number 10’ role he occupied for most of Dyche’s early months at the club, which would bring a dilemma over whether Dwight McNeil revert to the flanks. If that were the case, the Rochdale-born player would be competing for a spot alongside Iliman Ndiaye plus Jesper Lindstrom and Jack Harrison, who have been battling it out for a starting position on the right all season.
Up front, Dyche dropped Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who had started Everton’s first dozen Premier League games of the season, for the trip to Manchester United after the Blues’ number nine had failed to score in his previous eight outings since the 3-2 defeat at Aston Villa. The Yorkshireman came on for Beto for the final 23 minutes, but neither were able to hit the net and they could now be facing increased competition from the fit-again Armando Broja and Youssef Chermiti who both started the Under-21s fixture against their Nottingham Forest counterparts at Finch Farm last Friday.