In four matches in charge of Everton so far, manager Sean Dyche has made just one enforced change to his starting line-ups but with back-to-back away games at Arsenal and Nottingham Forest over the space of five days, could the Blues boss be tempted to shuffle his pack at the Emirates?
Captain Seamus Coleman has been in fine form under the new gaffer – netting a spectacular winning goal from a tight angle against Leeds United – but with Nathan Patterson working his way back to fitness, the Irish international, who turns 35 in October, might make way at some point in what is a busy week.
Patterson hasn’t featured in the first team since the 4-1 home defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion back on January 3 but started the Under-21s 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur in Southport a week last Friday.
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On the opposite side of defence, Dyche has so far stayed loyal to Vitalii Mykolenko but Ben Godfrey can operate in that area and offers a more physical option.
The former Norwich City man is also one of the centre-backs waiting in the wings if Everton decide to make changes in the heart of their backline with question marks over Conor Coady for Aston Villa’s second goal on Saturday and it’s the one area of the pitch where the squad has something of a surfeit of numbers with Yerry Mina, Michael Keane and Mason Holgate – also another alternative at right-back – all waiting in the wings and on the bench in recent matches.
In central midfield, it’s also been the Idrissa Gueye, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Amadou Onana axis all the way but the former gave away a penalty last time out while the latter had to negotiate a disciplinary tightrope after picking up a booking just a minute in so Tom Davies and James Garner if he’s fit – like Patterson he got a run-out for the second string against Spurs – both offer alternatives. On the wings, Dwight McNeil – who despite the result produced one of his most-impressive personal displays in a royal blue jersey to date against Villa – and Alex Iwobi have been the men starting but Demarai Gray who was a regular under Dyche’s predecessor Frank Lampard will be champing at the bit for a return and could add more goalscoring threat to a team that has struggled to score.
Following Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s latest injury setback, Neal Maupay has spearheaded the attack for the past two games at home but before that, Ellis Simms – recalled from a loan spell at Sunderland in January – got the nod for Dyche’s only away match to date against Liverpool so might be in contention for another run-out in north London.
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