Everton go into a run of three games in a week with the festive season starting to ramp up, but with very little to count on in terms of reinforcements from the bench. It starts with a visit from Newcastle today, then a trip to the south coast to take on bogey team Bournemouth, before getting back to Hill Dickinson Stadium next Saturday to welcome former manager Sean Dyche with his Nottingham Forest side.
Idrissa Gueye will miss all three games serving the suspension for his red card in the win over Manchester United, and club captain Seamus Coleman is under observation after hobbling off with a hamstring issue after less than ten minutes at Old Trafford. Merlin Rohl is not expected back in 2025, which leaves the midfield looking very thin, though David Moyes says he can use Charly Alcaraz and Dwight McNeil in the middle of the park.
Newcastle have their own injury issues to contend with balancing a European campaign, with Yoane Wissa, Kieran Trippier and William Osula all out.
Who’s Out?
Per David Moyes in his pre-match press conference on Friday, Seamus Coleman, Merlin Rohl, Jarrad Branthwaite and Nathan Patterson are all out.
Everton squad available vs Newcastle
Goalkeepers: Pickford, Travers, King
Defenders: Keane, Branthwaite (INJURED), Tarkowski, O’Brien, Mykolenko, Coleman (INJURED), Patterson (INJURED), Aznou
Midfielders: Gueye (SUSPENDED), Garner, Iroegbunam, Dewsbury-Hall, Röhl (INJURED)
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)
Jordan Pickford – 9/10
Vitaliy Mykolenko – 7/10
Michael Keane – 9/10
James Tarkowski – 8/10
Jake O’Brien – 8/10 Back to the back four we’ve seen the most often this season
Tim Iroegbunam – 8/10 Iroegbunam tends to fade fast after the hour mark, need Moyes to be prepared for that
James Garner – 8/10
Jack Grealish – 9/10
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – 8/10 KDH has had two very good games now
Iliman Ndiaye – 9/10
Thierno Barry – 7/10 The striker is getting closer and closer to his first Everton goal
Bench
Mark Travers
Tom King
Adam Aznou
Carlos Alcaraz
Dwight McNeil
Tyler Dibling
Beto
Under-21 Player 1
Under-21 Player 2