Our Everton writers Joe Thomas and Chris Beesley predict their line-ups for the Premier League clash at surprise package Sunderland on Monday night
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - AUGUST 27: Carlos Alcaraz of Everton celebrates after scoring their side's first goal during the Carabao Cup second round match between Everton and Mansfield Town at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on August 27, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)
Carlos Alcaraz, pictured celebrating his goal for Everton against Mansfield Town earlier this season, has found game time hard to come by
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Everton will look to return to winning ways tonight when they face Sunderland, the surprise package of the Premier League season so far. The Blues head to the north east on the back of back-to-back defeats.
Those 2-0 losses away to Manchester City and 3-0 at home to Tottenham Hotspur have seen David Moyes' men plunge to 15th in the table and just four points above third-from-bottom West Ham United.
In contrast, promoted Sunderland are flying, with last season's Championship play-off winners knowing a sixth win in 10 matches this evening would see them incredibly climb up to second and within five points of leaders Arsenal.
That is a tantalising prospect for the Black Cats but the match also gives Everton the chance to put what had been a promising start to the campaign back on track.
But what side should Blues boss Moyes, who like goalkeeper Jordan Pickford is returning to his former club, go with? Our writers have their say...
Joe Thomas
While I do think it is worth David Moyes exploring the options within his squad, the debate for me is whether to do that at Sunderland and from the start against a team that is in good form and will have the full support from a home crowd under the lights.
Chief among what I think needs to happen is a look at Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's role. The limited attacking prowess of the full-backs and the lack of ruthlessness from Beto are both big issues but there is only so much Moyes can do with the current squad. With Dewsbury-Hall, I would like to see him sit deeper, maybe playing alongside Idrissa Gueye with James Garner sat in front of the back four.
I just wonder if it would give Everton more control if they played with three in midfield rather than three attacking midfielders.
I would then go one of two ways depending on the state of the game. If Everton are chasing then Carlos Alcaraz can come on and push up - and with time to effect the game, not just the last few minutes. And if it is a tough battle, a war of attrition in which Everton have something to protect, I would turn to Merlin Rohl because of his fitness and stature.
I would like to work Rohl and Tyler Dibling into the first team when possible, one for the balance of the team and two for the departures of Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye for the Africa Cup of Nations, but that might be a better option for the home game against Fulham.
My team (4-3-3): Pickford; O'Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko; Garner, Gueye, Dewsbury-Hall; Ndiaye, Beto, Grealish.
Chris Beesley
After a 3-0 home defeat against Tottenham Hotspur, Everton manager David Moyes must be tempted to make some kind of change for the trip to Sunderland, but I’m not sure whether major surgery is required, certainly at this stage.
One ploy could be to bring in an added presence in the centre of the park by introducing deadline day signing Merlin Rohl as a third midfielder and given that the Black Cats have got a few big lads in their squad, it might help the visitors when it comes to the physical battle.
However, I’d argue that rather than trying to go like-for-like, this is a fixture in which Moyes’ men should try and display their extra class as the established Premier League outfit.
Therefore, rather than switching formations to 4-3-3, Moyes, who has long deployed the 4-2-3-1 system, goes for a different change in personnel. Charly Alcaraz combines well with Beto at times and can bring the best out of the misfiring striker.
Therefore, I’d recall the Argentinian in the number 10 role he’s looked most effective in with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall being the unfortunate fall guy to drop to the bench and hope that the former loan player can produce another sparkling display in the North East like he did when Everton gate-crashed Newcastle United’s Champions League party with a 1-0 victory on the final day of last season as Alcaraz headed in the winner.My team (4-2-3-1): Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko; Garner, Gueye, Ndiaye, Alcaraz, Grealish; Beto.