Injury crisis eases for Everton as Ancelotti appointed new manager

With the strange situation of both Everton and Arsenal being under caretaker managers for one last match, the early Gameweek 18 kick-off is more so about the players impressing real-life bosses rather than Fantasy ones.

Carlo Ancelotti – announced as Everton’s new boss just before the 11.30am team news – and Mikel Arteta will both assess their soon-to-be squads at Goodison Park this afternoon.

The Toffees welcome back Lucas Digne (£5.7m), Djibril Sidibe (£5.3m), Fabian Delph (£5.3m) and Gylfi Sigurdsson (£7.4m) from a range of injuries and illness.

Richarlison (£7.9m), brought in by nearly 150,000 managers for GW18, is named to start for a wide-left attacking position. If the Brazilian does remain in that berth for 90 minutes, it could be a clue as to how Ancelotti plans to use Everton’s top scorer.

Digne is actually the most-selected FPL asset in Everton’s squad at 11.4%. Owners and potential investors will be looking for the Frenchman to return to the creative ways that saw him become an extremely popular asset last season.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£10.8m) again leads the line for Arsenal, with Alexandre Lacazette (£9.3m) benched for the third league game in a row.

Sead Kolasinac (£5.2m) is set to miss the Christmas period with an ankle problem, while Kieran Tierney (£5.4m) is out until March with a shoulder injury. FPL midfielder Bukayo Saka (£4.5m) looks set to operate at left-back, which will pit him against ex-Arsenal man Alex Iwobi (£5.6m).

More young Gunners in the shape of Reiss Nelson (£5.3m) and Emile Smith-Rowe (unlisted) also start in attacking midfield for Freddie Ljungberg, while budget forward Gabriel Martinelli (£4.5m) could be one to monitor for FPL bosses using a 3-5-2 formation.

Everton XI: Pickford; Digne, Mina, Holgate, Sidibe; Delph, Davies; Richarlison, Sigurdsson, Iwobi; Calvert-Lewin.

Arsenal XI: Leno; Saka, David Luiz, Chambers, Maitland-Niles; Xhaka, Torreira; Martinelli, Smith-Rowe, Nelson; Aubameyang.