Joe Thomas - Familiar questions for Lampard
Well, we’re back and we’re back with questions - all expected, but big ones nonetheless. The first is: Who partners Conor Coady?
Barring anything catastrophic it’s a case of when, not if, Everton make the influential centre back a permanent signing but the terms of his loan deal mean there is no rush. Ineligible against his parent club, his unavailability for today was expected and Frank Lampard and co will have been thinking hard about this. Yerry Mina and Ben Godfrey are both back after injury and Mason Holgate and Michael Keane are competing with them for a start.
This is a difficult one with the transfer window coming up and injuries still relatively fresh and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Lampard move to three centre backs to mitigate any potential rustiness. For me, I’d be tempted down this path but Everton could do with a win today and face another side that has struggled for goals - I want them to be more progressive and confident. Mina’s talent is undoubted, it’s his fitness that’s the issue. If he’s genuinely available I’d start him. Everton aren’t in a position to not pick their best XI at every opportunity.
The other big question is the role Dominic Calvert-Lewin can play. Lampard’s comments in the week suggest it’s bench at the best and we have seen he tends to operate with caution on recovering players. So Neal Maupay starts up front and gets a chance to put into practice the growing partnership he has hopefully formed with his wide players over the break.
I love the idea of a 3-5-2 with three centre backs to share the pressure and Maupay playing up top with young striker Tom Cannon. But he’s a young player and needs to be carefully handled - coming off the bench if Calvert-Lewin cannot makes more sense. I think a loan move may best suit him come the end of January, especially if Calvert-Lewin returns and attacking reinforcements are signed, yet I would love to see him get minutes to show what he can do.
My team (4-3-3): Pickford; Mykolenko, Tarkowski, Mina, Patterson; Onana, Iwobi, Gueye; Gray, Gordon, Maupay
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READ MORE: Full Everton squad available to face Wolves as Frank Lampard faces Dominic Calvert-Lewin wait
Make no mistake, Everton's Premier League return against Wolverhampton Wanderers - an encounter which depending on next season's fixtures might turn out to be the last ever Boxing Day game at Goodison Park - is huge. A disastrous final week before the World Cup break, which culminated with a double debacle at Bournemouth, saw Frank Lampard's side plummet to just one point and one place above the relegation zone.
The Blues are in their lowest position at this time of year since the awful 1997/98 season when they only stayed up on goal difference and desperately need a result here to stop the rot as a defeat could see their opponents - currently propping up the table - move to within just a point of them. Everton's main goal threat Dominic Calvert-Lewin went into the Qatar-enforced sabbatical with three separate injuries and like the ubiquitous taxi driver over the festive season, his return to fitness always seems tantalisingly "just around the corner" so it looks as though Neal Maupay will have to lead the line with the hope that the rest of the squad have actually been spending a big chunk of the last six weeks trying to play to his strengths.
At the other end, on-loan Conor Coady's ineligibility against his parent club calls for an enforced change at centre-back. Fit-again Ben Godfrey hasn't yet played a first team game since he broke his leg on the first day of the season so I wouldn't throw him in at the deep end.
This is the area of the pitch where communication and understanding is most important so I'd bring in Michael Keane, who previously spent time together with James Tarkowski at Burnley.
My team (4-3-3): Pickford; Patterson, Mykolenko, Tarkowski, Keane; Gueye, Onana, Iwobi; Gordon, Gray, Maupay.
Connor O’Neill - Mina in for Coady
We already know Frank Lampard has one enforced change to make, but all eyes will be on whether Dominic Calvert-Lewin is fit to start for Everton this afternoon.
Speaking ahead of the game on Friday, Blues boss Lampard revealed it 'is going to be tight' for Calvert-Lewin to be available for the game. But if the forward is fit, then he has to play, it is as simple as that.
Calvert-Lewin, as he showed against Crystal Palace back in October, is Everton’s best chance of a goal, and the Blues will only benefit from having him leading the line.
At the back, Lampard has a big decision to make. Conor Coady has been a mainstay for Everton since his summer arrival from Wolves, but he is unable to feature against his parent club this afternoon. In his place, provided he is fit, I would start Yerry Mina, for the simple fact that Everton often look a better team with him in it.
My team (4-3-3): Pickford; Patterson, Mina, Tarkowski, Mykolenko; Gueye, Onana, Iwobi; Gordon, Calvert-Lewin, Gray
Matt Jones - Mina the man to replace Coady
The Blues are back again then - come on, you have missed them a bit, haven't you?
While the six-week break has given the Wolverhampton Wanderers game an early-season feel, the brutal reality is that for Everton this is a match of huge significance. Frank Lampard has to get his approach, his tactics and his selection right.
It feels like there are only two real areas of debate in regards to the XI, assuming Dominic Calvert-Lewin doesn't feature from the start as anticipated.
Jordan Pickford will have Nathan Patterson, James Tarkowski and Vitalii Mykolenko ahead of him. Conor Coady's absence will be felt, but if Yerry Mina can nurse his way through the game then the drop off shouldn't be noticeable - he too is a leader and a fine defender.
Midfield feels like a straightforward selection, with Amadou Onana and Idrissa Gueye sitting deep - hopefully - to allow Alex Iwobi license to roam.
Up top, Neal Maupay is the only other senior centre-forward available, while Anthony Gordon surely starts on one flank. On the other, it'll be a toss up between Demarai Gray and Dwight McNeil, who both need to up their game significantly too - the former will likely get the nod.
My Team (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Patterson, Tarkowski, Mina, Mykolenko; Onana, Gueye; Gordon, Iwobi, Gray; Maupay
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