Connor O’Neill - Has to be five at the back
It might only be the middle of January, but there is no denying this a huge game for all connected to Everton Football Club.
But when it comes to team selection, there is only one decision Frank Lampard has to make and that depends on Alex Iwobi’s availability. It has to be more of the same from the Blues boss this afternoon.
That means Everton should line-up with a back five of Seamus Coleman, James Tarkowski, Conor Coady, Ben Godfrey and Vitalii Mykolenko. Jordan Pickford will no doubt start in goal.
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In midfield, it should be Idrissa Gueye, Amadou Onana and Iwobi, but the former Arsenal man isn’t fit to play, then Abdoulaye Doucoure should be given the nod after he did well against Manchester United last week.
Demarai Gray and Dominic Calvert-Lewin should be the men tasked with leading the line for the Blues.
My team (5-3-2): Pickford; Coleman, Tarkowski, Coady, Godfrey, Mykolenko; Gueye, Onana, Iwobi; Gray, Calvert-Lewin.
Chris Beesley - Anthony Gordon to return
What a week it's been at Everton but the most-important factor as always come 3pm Saturday will be the Blues striving to secure victory. Other than a fixture like the final home game last season against Crystal Palace when the club's entire top-flight status hinged on the result, this is arguably as much as a "must-win" fixture for the Blues as any for a long time.
Just one win in the last 10 games has seen Frank Lampard's side plummet into the Premier League drop zone and they're currently on course for the lowest equivalent points total in the club's history and a first relegation in 72 years, so regardless of passionate coach welcomes before kick-off or planned fan protests after the final whistle, they have to stop the rot against the division's basement club who, regardless of recent cup successes, have lost six on the spin in this competition.
Lampard has eluded to a different kind of challenge at home to Southampton compared to the two trips to Manchester where a three centre-back system enabled them to hang on in the games. But I'd retain that formation while adding an extra wide attacker with Anthony Gordon hopefully having recovered from illness to return.
My team (3-4-3): Pickford; Godfrey, Coady, Tarkowski; Coleman, Gueye, Onana, Mykolenko; Gordon, Calvert-Lewin, Gray.
Paul Wheelock - All depends on Alex Iwobi
For a side that has lost nine of their last 12 games in all competitions, it seems ludicrous to say that the team more-or-less picks itself. But such is the paucity of options available to Frank Lampard.
A lot depends on the fitness of Alex Iwobi. Evertonians feared the worst when he was stretchered off in the FA Cup defeat to Manchester United last weekend, but it now appears he could even be fit for this, which truly is a must-win match for the Blues.
If Iwobi is fit, go with the same starting line-up and formation as the one that started at Old Trafford. Whether it's the personnel or the tactics, Everton look much better being reactive than proactive and, at this moment in time, every point counts. But there's nt getting away from the fact that it's a sad state of affairs that we cannot fully trust this team to take the game to a Southampton side who, cup exploits aside, are in dreadful form.
If Iwobi misses out, I'd bring Anthony Gordon back in and tweak the formation to a 3-4-3, from a 5-3-2.
My team (5-3-2): Pickford; Coleman, Tarkowski, Coady, Godfrey, Mykolenko; Gueye, Onana, Iwobi; Gray, Calvert-Lewin.
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