Everton could be minus Idrissa Gueye, Iliman Ndiaye, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Jarrad Branthwaite, Seamus Coleman, Jack Grealish, Carlos Alcaraz and Michael Keane for the visit of Brentford at Hill Dickinson
Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The latter trio might be the closest to returning today with Grealish still ill and Alcaraz & Keane recovering from unnamed injuries with manager David Moyes not revealing too much during the pre-match press conference. Youngster Harrison Armstrong is eligible to play however after being recalled from his loan to Preston North End.
Visitors Brentford are riding the wave of striker Igor Jesus who is the second highest scorer in the Premier League with eleven goals this season.
The Bees have moved on past manager Thomas Frank leaving for Tottenham Hotspur, with Keith Andrews taking them to 10th place in the league a point behind the Toffees.
Fabio Carvalho, Joshua Dasilva and Antoni Milambo are all out long-term with injuries, and Dango Ouattara and Frank Onyeka away at AFCON.
Who’s Out?
Seamus Coleman (hamstring), Jarrad Branthwaite (hamstring), Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (hamstring) are all confirmed out. Idrissa Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye are at AFCON. Jack Grealish trained in the last few sessions but there’s still no confirmation on the status of Michel Keane and Carlos Alcaraz.
Everton squad available vs Brentford
Goalkeepers: Pickford, Travers, King
Defenders: Keane (INJURED), Branthwaite (INJURED), Tarkowski, O’Brien, Mykolenko, Coleman (INJURED), Patterson, Aznou
Midfielders: Gueye (AFCON), Garner, Iroegbunam, Dewsbury-Hall (INJURED), Röhl
Wingers: McNeil, Ndiaye (AFCON), Grealish (ILLNESS), Dibling, Alcaraz (INJURED)
Strikers: Beto, Barry
Tactics and Formation
Everton will likely stick to the 4-2-3-1 they’ve used so far.
Starters (likelihood of starting rated out of 10)
Jordan Pickford – 9/10
Vitaliy Mykolenko – 8/10
Michael Keane – 6/10 The durable centre half should be back for this one.
James Tarkowski – 9/10
Jake O’Brien – 8/10 O’Brien returns to his ill-suited rightback position.
James Garner – 9/10 Incredible game at Forest, will need more of the same today.
Tim Iroegbunam – 8/10
Jack Grealish – 8/10 Anticipating he will be well enough to play. The Blues really need some inspiration.
Dwight McNeil – 6/10
Tyler Dibling – 8/10
Thierno Barry – 8/10 Can he score against anyone else but Forest?
Bench
Mark Travers
Tom King
Nathan Patterson
Adam Aznou
Merlin Rohl – Was poor in his first start and should go back to the bench.
Harrison Armstrong
Beto
Reece Welch
Elijah Campbell
