Full Everton team news for the crucial Premier League clash against Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - MARCH 03: Jarrad Branthwaite of Everton during the Premier League match between Everton and Burnley at Hill Dickinson Stadium on March 03, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)
Jarrad Branthwaite returns to the Everton starting line-up for the big match at Brentford(Image: James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)
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Jarrad Branthwaite returns to the starting line-up for Everton’s crunch Premier League game with Brentford.
The centre-back missed the trip to Arsenal and was then only used as a late substitute in the win over Chelsea before the three-week break leading into the visit to the Gtech Community Stadium today.
The 23-year-old was having his minutes managed following the hamstring issues that plagued the start of his season but, at Finch Farm on Friday, Blues boss David Moyes declared he was ‘raring to go’.
That claim has been backed up by his inclusion alongside James Tarkowski at the back for a game that will place the winner in a strong position to break into Europe.
Branthwaite is the only change from the starting line-up from the emphatic win over Chelsea.
While Michael Keane can count himself unfortunate to miss out, Moyes’ decision will likely have been influenced by a desire to adopt a different centre back pairing to the one that was dominated by Igor Thiago, whose hat-trick secured a 4-2 win for the Bees at Hill Dickinson Stadium in January.
Beyond that, the XI shows Vitalii Mykolenko and Iliman Ndiaye have both sufficiently recovered from injuries that ruled them out of games in the international break to start.
With Beto and Dwight McNeil also starting, Moyes appears to have alighted on his first choice XI heading into the crucial run-in.
EVERTON: Pickford, Mykolenko, Branthwaite, Tarkowski, O'Brien, Garner, Gueye, Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall, McNeil, Beto. Subs: Travers, Patterson, Keane, Barry, George, Dibling, Coleman, Rohl, Iroegbunam.
BRENTFORD: Kelleher, Lewis-Potter, Collins, Van den Berg, Kayode, Jensen, Yarmoliuk, Schade, Damsgaard, Ouattara, Thiago. Subs: Valdimarsson, Pinnock, Nelson, Ajer, Donovan, Bentt, Shield, Stephenson, Owen.