Our Everton writers Joe Thomas and Chris Beesley select their Everton line-ups for Tuesday's important Premier League clash at home to Bournemouth
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - AUGUST 09: Jarrad Branthwaite of Everton during the pre-season friendly match between Everton and AS Roma at Hill Dickinson Stadium on August 09, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
Jarrad Branthwaite could be brought back into Everton's starting line-up against Bournemouth(Image: Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
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Everton will look to end their five-game winless home run when they welcome Bournemouth to Hill Dickinson tonight (Tuesday) for an important and intriguing fixture (7.30pm kick-off). The incentive could not be much greater for the Blues.
A welcome three points in front of their own supporters would lift Everton above neighbours and defending champions Liverpool into sixth place and give their chances of playing European football next season a huge shot in the arm.
But Bournemouth are a good team. Like the Blues, they are unbeaten in their last five Premier League matches, and while they had to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to Aston Villa at the weekend, they dominated a side still harbouring hopes of winning the title.
How does Everton boss David Moyes play it then? Our writers have their say here..
Joe Thomas
I have understood some of David Moyes’ recent tactics away from home and, while I have not always agreed with them, they have brought two impressive results on the road.
I do think a change of approach is needed at home, though. Firstly, because I think there is greater expectation - understandably - on the team to be more proactive going forward. Secondly, while the results at Brighton and Fulham were good, in both cases (as with Leeds United, the last home game), if the plan was to stay solid and tight at the back and then look to seize the initiative later on, I don’t think the plan was quite as successful as the results suggest.
I say this because in each of the last three games Everton would have been facing a monumental task to avoid defeat had Leeds, Brighton and Fulham taken their chances.
So I do think changes at the back are a necessity. It made sense that Jarrad Branthwaite was rested on Saturday given he will need patience as he recovers from a long injury but I would bring him back in tonight and I would do so at centre back. Him playing there changes the dynamic of the back four and allows the defence to push up five, six yards further and makes the team more coherent.
So too does having specialist full backs - I would select Vitalii Mykolenko and Nathan Patterson. James Tarkowski keeps his place and Jake O’Brien would be unfortunate to drop out in this scenario. I do ultimately see O’Brien and Branthwaite as being the first-choice centre-back pairing but think a complete overhaul of the defence would be risky tonight, against good opposition.
O’Brien would replace Branthwaite in this set up if there were any remaining concerns around his fitness. Michael Keane would also be unlucky to miss out - I think he has been Everton’s most consistent defender this season - but I am just concerned that him and Tarkowski sit that bit deeper at home.
In midfield, I would have James Garner sat in front of the defence and Idrissa Gueye and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in front of him, with Dewsbury-Hall playing as an eight rather than 10. I would not be opposed to Gueye being provided with a rest in place of Harrison Armstrong or Merlin Rohl but I thought he looked good in the second half against Leeds when given more freedom to play higher up the pitch.
That midfield being a touch deeper would hopefully give more control in the middle of the pitch and allow me to play wingers on either side - Iliman Ndiaye on the right and Tyrique George on the left. George impressed me when he came on at Craven Cottage and I would like to see him and Tyler Dibling become interchangeable in a process that hopefully gives opportunities for both to settle in and start to have an impact. T
Thierno Barry starts up top.
My team (4-3-3): Pickford; Patterson, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Garner, Gueye, Dewsbury-Hall, Ndiaye, Barry, George.
Chris Beesley
The game against Bournemouth is a huge opportunity for Everton to put a marker down for their aspirations to qualify for European football. The Blues have twice won back-to-back fixtures so far this season, but if they are to challenge for continental competition in what is a congested middle part of the table, then that kind of consistency must be shown on a more regular basis.
David Moyes’ men will be looking to follow up their dramatic late 2-1 comeback victory at Fulham, and while travelling Evertonians have been treated to 11 successes on the road since the Glaswegian gaffer returned to the helm, it’s high time that the team started utilising the home comforts of Hill Dickinson Stadium where they haven’t won in front of the vast majority of their fanbase for over two months.
Therefore, I think the Blues should adopt a bold strategy and name a progressive line-up.
With Vitalii Mykolenko fit again, Jarrad Branthwaite was rested to the bench at Craven Cottage having gone from eight months without a competitive game to 105 minutes of action against Leeds United and Brighton & Hove Albion, only coming on as an 85th minute substitute.
Moyes could exercise caution again with the England man against the Cherries as there is then a 13-day gap until their next fixture against Manchester United, but Branthwaite brings a different dimension to the team with his recovery pace and assuredness on the ball, which enables him to carry the ball out from defence and up the field.
That is best deployed when he is in central defence, so I would restore him to his favoured position, even if that is harsh on Michael Keane. For all his ups and downs this term, James Tarkowski has played every minute and is the de facto on-field leader, with club captain Seamus Coleman seldom getting a game these days.
I’d also be bold and bring Everton’s newest signing Tyrique George into the starting line-up after he made a positive impact off the bench against Marco Silva’s side. He comes in on the left, ensuring that Iliman Ndiaye plays on the right wing and Harrison Armstrong’s 19-year-old legs are better suited for two starts in four days than those of 36-year-old Idrissa Gueye, so the West Derby prospect moves into a central role.
As much as Thierno Barry’s form is now on an upwards curve, he’s been quiet for the past couple of games, so perhaps the quick turnaround in matches also presents an opportunity for Beto, who netted the last-gasp equaliser at Brighton on his 28th birthday, to lead the line.
He’s scored against Bournemouth in the past and as Moyes quipped ahead of Fulham, hopefully he is “coming into season,” and can smell spring on the horizon given that the Guinea-Bissau international netted five goals in four Premier League games last February.
My team (4-2-3-1): Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Garner, Armstrong; Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall, George; Beto.