After a brief stint at left midfield, Lucas Digne (£6.0m) returns to full-back in an attacking line-up from Carlo Ancelotti.
At his pre-match press conference on Friday, the Toffees chief spoke about his team needing to get the best out of James Rodriguez (£7.7m), Richarlison (£7.8m) and Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.6m).
“We have more consistency now defensively and it’s true most of the game [against Leicester] we defended instead of attacking. We want to attack more but to be able to defend well is important. One of the qualities of a team is to read the situations.
When we have the defensive line deep, James [Rodriguez], [Dominic] Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison have difficulty showing their quality, they are not defenders. We have to give them more opportunity to have the ball and use their quality.” – Carlo Ancelotti
Ancelotti looks to have followed through on his pre-game assertion, with Seamus Coleman (£4.8m) regaining the right-back spot ahead of Mason Holgate (£4.8m).
“We have two full-backs that can push. It’s true that we want to win, to attack but we also want to have balance in the team.” – Carlo Ancelotti to BT ahead of kick off
In midfield, Gylfi Sigurdsson (£6.8m) partners Abdoulaye Doucouré (£5.2m), who returns from a one-game ban having collected five yellow cards.
That could be in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 set-up, with Richarlison either set to operate from the left of an attacking midfield trio or partner Calvert-Lewin up front.
Alex Iwobi (£5.9m) should operate from the right-hand side in either scenario, while Rodriguez could play centrally or on the flank.
Newcastle’s formation will also be one to monitor, with the official team graphic suggesting Isaac Hayden (£4.7m) will be part of a back three.
The ex-Arsenal man could also operate in his defined midfield role as part of a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3.
In any case, Callum Wilson (£6.6m) will lead the Magpies line. Allan Saint-Maximin (£5.1m) is on the Newcastle bench.
“Basically he’s been idle for the best part of eight weeks. We’ve just got to gently ease him in. The one thing we don’t want to do is risk him and he pulls a muscle or whatever.” – Steve Bruce to BT on Allan Saint-Maximin
Everton XI: Pickford; Digne, Keane, Mina, Coleman; Doucouré, Sigurdsson; Richarlison, James Rodriguez, Iwobi; Calvert-Lewin.
Newcastle United XI: Darlow; Lewis, Schar, Lascelles, Hayden, Manquillo; Fraser, Shelvey, Hendrick, Almiron; Wilson.
3 years, 3 months agoBuzzing 😀