Three wins from three. Six scored, none conceded. Everton’s tricky December fixture list is going better than expected!
Despite an impressive run of form that would normally see us sitting comfortably in 10th, the Blues remain 17th;. Therefore, dropping points to teams below us is ill-advised.
Next up is a trip to Burnley, so how will Sean Dyche set up at his former club?
Who’s Out?
Some bad news going into this one.
Idrissa Gueye and Jarrad Branthwaite will both serve one-match suspensions for this one after picking up their fifth yellow cards of the season against Chelsea.
Ashley Young will also miss the tie after picking up a knock against Chelsea, while Seamus Coleman also remains out with a knock from Newcastle.
Andre Gomes is expected to play the full 90 minutes for the under-21s on Friday, so won’t be available for this one – but should be fit for the game against Fulham in the cup.
Aside from him, only Dele remains a long-term absentee, but he is now training back training with the first team.
EVERTON SQUAD AVAILABLE VS BURNLEY
Goalkeepers: Pickford, Virginia, Lonergan,
Defenders: Keane, Godfrey, Branthwaite (SUSPENDED), Tarkowski, Mykolenko, Coleman (INJURED), Patterson, Young (INJURED)
Midfielders: Doucoure, Onana, Gueye (SUSPENDED), Garner, Onyango, Gomes (UNAVAILABLE), Dele (INJURED)
Wingers: McNeil, Danjuma, Dobbin, Harrison
Attackers: Calvert-Lewin, Beto, Chermiti
Tactics and Formation
While the squad will be a bit thin for the trip to Turf Moor, a couple of the absences will actually force Dyche into naming – what most Evertonians consider – a better line-up.
In particular, Nathan Patterson will surely get a rare start with veteran duo Young and Coleman out injured. Likewise, Amadou Onana will replace Idrissa Gueye in order to return to the best midfield trio of Garner, Onana and Doucoure.
The only real disappointment is the imperious Branthwaite missing out through suspension. Dyche will need to make a decision between replacing him with Michael Keane or Ben Godfrey. He seems to favour the former, but Godfrey really deserves some game time having not started a league game in his favoured centre-back role in almost a year.
Dyche did coyly hint at a possible formation change in the back, quite how he’ll pull that off well only find out at kickoff.
Otherwise, expect a similar set up to the Chelsea win.
Starters (likelihood of starting rated out of 10)
Jordan Pickford – 10/10
Nathan Patterson – 8/10
Vitalii Mykolenko – 9/10
James Tarkowski – 9/10
Ben Godfrey – 6/10
Abdoulaye Doucoure – 9/10
Amadou Onana – 9/10
James Garner – 9/10
Jack Harrison – 8/10
Dwight McNeil – 9/10
Dominic Calvert-Lewin – 7/10
Bench
Joao Virginia
Andy Lonergan
Michael Keane
Mackenzie Hunt
Ben Godfrey
Arnaut Danjuma
Lewin Dobbin
Beto
Youssef Chermiti
