If you were to rank Everton's four senior centre-backs in terms of suitability for Wednesday night's trip to Burnley, there appears two obvious leading candidates.
If they were all fit and available - a fanciful prospect, granted - then the combination of the Clarets' direct football and their towering centre-forward would likely be best combated by Yerry Mina and Michael Keane.
Both Blues defenders have their vices, although they have shown in the past they can cope with a long-ball bombardment. Unfortunately for Frank Lampard, both are unavailable - Mina is still sidelined with injury and Keane is serving a suspension for his thoughtless red card in Sunday's loss to West Ham United.
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The other two senior centre-backs Lampard can call on are Ben Godfrey and Mason Holgate. While Jarrad Branthwaite may come into the thinking for Wednesday night - especially given Holgate played in midfield on Sunday - it would be a surprise if the Everton boss turned to the youngster in a game of such significance. On nights of tension and pressure, coaches tend to side with experience.
At one stage, the prospect of Holgate and Godfrey playing as a centre-back duo would not have concerned Evertonians. Indeed, almost a year ago they turned in an excellent display in tandem in a 1-0 win at Arsenal, with their dynamism in defence and comfort in possession bringing an assurance to the back four that night.
It briefly felt like the start of the next step under former manager Carlo Ancelotti, who had typically paired either Holgate or Godfrey with Keane or Mina, or even played one of the former duo at full-back. Maybe Everton would start to use the ball better from deep? Maybe playing a more athletic twosome would allow the Toffees to play a higher line and press with more vigour?
But it was a short-lived experiment. The following game saw the pair entrusted to play as a centre-back duo again and Ollie Watkins ran riot for Aston Villa at Goodison Park in a 2-1 win.
Ancelotti pulled no punches in his assessment of the pair afterwards. "We had problems against Ollie Watkins who did really well," said the Italian. "I have to say, it was a completely different performance of Ben Godfrey and Mason Holgate from the performance they had a week ago. They played in this game because of what they did against Arsenal."
Ancelotti didn't use the duo as a centre-back pairing for the remainder of the season. Neither Lampard nor his predecessor Rafael Benitez have used them as a partnership either.
In that Arsenal game, Godfrey and Holgate showed the best versions of themselves. The former's recovery pace was crucial against nimble and interchanging forwards, while the latter read the game clearly and snuffed out the intelligent bursts of players like Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe. It was a speedy and smart duo. But on Wednesday, it will be more about mettle and might.
Even though Burnley have toiled all season, the vertical nature of their football means that centre-backs have a lot of work to do when they come to Turf Moor.
Factor in what is likely to be a hostile atmosphere and a physically dominant opponent in the 197cm Wout Weghorst, this will be a big challenge for Godfrey and Holgate should they be paired. But they should also view it as an opportunity to show their quality against a team that hasn't found the net in five games.
Of course, Lampard could play the two defenders as part of a back three, as he has lurched between tactical setups seemingly each week since his appointment. But there were some encouraging signs from the 4-3-3 against West Ham and surely the time has come to give a particular way of playing prolonged chance. Maybe then some cohesion will percolate.
Godfrey and Holgate may not go on to form a prosperous long-term defensive partnership in royal blue, as so many hoped they would. Given the concerning club accounts and looming spectre of relegation, there potentially isn't even a guarantee both will be Everton players at the start of next season.
But now is not the time for forward planning. The Blues have to put one foot in front of the other as they attempt to walk wearily towards Premier League safety.
It's why for Godfrey and Holgate, one night and two fine individual performances will do. For now at least.
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