David Moyes is facing a dilemma ahead of Everton’s upcoming Premier League clash with Manchester City. With Jack Grealish unavailable to play against his parent club, the Scottish tactician will have to reshuffle his attacking options for the contest at the Etihad Stadium.
A summer loan signing from Man City, Grealish has been Everton’s best player at the start of the season and the team’s main creative spark, registering one goal and four assists in seven top-flight appearances.
With some already raising an argument that Grealish should be re-called to the England squad by Thomas Tuchel, the 30-year-old will miss a chance to impress against his parent club and further build momentum after his recent performances.
While Moyes has several options to replace the Englishman on the left flank for next Saturday’s game, he will need to make a bold decision to catch Pep Guardiola off guard, and deploying Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in a new role could provide the spark Everton will need in attack.
Moyes Must Start Dewsbury-Hall on the Left
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall Everton
With Grealish unavailable for selection, Moyes will have to reshuffle his front four next weekend and has several options on the left-hand side.
Provided Iliman Ndiaye retains his spot on the right flank, both Tyler Dibling and Dwight McNeil are in contention to start on the left, although neither has managed to impress early in 2025/26.
While McNeil has made just a single 19-minute cameo in the 2-0 win over Brighton, Dibling has also struggled for regular game time, playing just 58 minutes of league football so far.
The 19-year-old, who joined from Southampton in August, was given his first start for the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace last weekend but was taken off at half-time for Carlos Alcaraz, who helped Everton’s second-half comeback as they scored two late goals to end Palace’s 18-game unbeaten run.
While Dewsbury-Hall was suspended for the Palace game after picking up five yellow cards, both he and Alcaraz deserve to start for the trip to Man City next weekend, which would mean one of them would need to cover on the left wing.
Dewsbury-Hall has prior experience playing on the left from his time at Leicester City and Chelsea, which could come in handy for Moyes, also considering how ‘tremendous’ the Englishman has been at the start of the season, averaging 2.2 chances created per game, the sixth-highest in the league.
Everton sit eighth ahead of their clash at Man City next weekend, with 11 points from seven games.