Everton lost more momentum in the Premier League with a close Merseyside Derby defeat to Liverpool over the weekend, and are now back in action after just two days rest when they visit Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Third Round of the Carabao Cup.
The Blues have already beaten Wolves this season when they came away from Molineux with a 3-2 win just a few weeks ago. Tomorrow though we can expect manager David Moyes to make some changes to ensure the team’s energy levels remain up. The Toffees don’t
play again until Monday night, so we can expect to see a few familiar faces start at Wolves though.
Premier League yellow cards do not carry into the Carabao Cup and vice versa, though a player getting two yellow cards in different cup games will be suspended for one match. Luckily no Blues were booked in the Mansfield Town clash in the Second Round.
Wolves remain bottom of the league with five defeats in five games, so will embattled manager Vitor Pereira throw in all his chips on getting a positive result in the Cup, or save his best team for the trip to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday night?
Who’s Out?
Jarrad Branthwaite and Vitaliy Mykolenko are unlikely to feature given they didn’t make the squad for the Saturday lunchtime kickoff. While Merlin Röhl’s injury is not deemed serious, it’s unlikely we see him in the squad tomorrow either.
Everton squad available vs Wolves
Goalkeepers: Pickford, Travers, King
Defenders: Keane, Branthwaite (OUT), Tarkowski, O’Brien, Mykolenko (OUT), Coleman, Patterson, Aznou
Midfielders: Gueye, Garner, Iroegbunam, Dewsbury-Hall, Röhl (DOUBT)
Wingers: McNeil, Ndiaye, Grealish, Dibling, Alcaraz
Attackers: 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)
Mark Travers – 7/10 Will Moyes give the backup another game between the sticks?
Adam Aznou – 6/10 It will be very indicative of Moyes’ faith in the youngster if he does not start tomorrow.
Michael Keane – 8/10
James Tarkowski – 8/10
Seamus Coleman – 6/10 Either Moyes starts with the Irishman and then brings on Patterson later, or vice versa.
Idrissa Gueye – 7/10 Don’t love playing Gana non-stop but with Röhl out this might have to happen.
Tim Iroegbunam – 6/10 The midfielder was decent at Wolves and against Villa, should play again.
Jack Grealish – 9/10 Getting Grealish back in the goal contributions column is very important.
Carlos Alcaraz – 9/10
Tyler Dibling – 9/10 The starlet hasn’t seen much game action yet, this will be his perfect opportunity to show what he’s got.
Barry – 9/10 The Toffees badly need their strikers firing, and it’s Barry’s turn to show he can do it.
Bench
Jordan Pickford
Vitaliy Mykolenko – The Ukraine international came through the Derby unscathed but is still healing.
Nathan Patterson
Jake O’Brien
James Garner
Dwight McNeil
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
Iliman Ndiaye
Beto
