Evertonvs.Liverpool

Sean Dyche's side comfortably swept Wolverhampton Wanderers aside on Wednesday with four unanswered goals, and unless any last-minute injuries crop up, the Toffees should line up with the same XI here.

There were a few minor tactical tweaks from Dyche in response to their 4-0 loss at Manchester United last weekend, with Orel Mangala being brought in for Jesper Lindstrom, resulting in Iliman Ndiaye moving to the right, Dwight McNeil shifting out wide, and Abdoulaye Doucoure being pushed further forward.

The only other change saw Dominic Calvert-Lewin reinstated to the side ahead of Beto up front, but both players will now be under pressure following the debut of Armando Broja, who returned after four months out, and made a positive impact in his brief cameo off the bench, but it will likely be too soon for him to start here.

Fellow forward Youssef Chermiti is a week or two further away from making a return of his own, and similar timescales are expected on the recoveries for both James Garner and Tim Iroegbunam in midfield.

That pair could struggle to dislodge Mangala from the side though, as he was excellent on Wednesday, adding such much-needed composure in the engine room, while also finding the net for a team that had been sorely lacking goals for many weeks.

The Man of the Match though was veteran Ashley Young, who at 39, became the Premier League's fourth-oldest goalscorer, and the oldest in Everton's entire history, when his free kick put the Toffees in front early on.

Moving Doucoure into a more advanced role was also to the benefit of the team, and Everton have not won a league game where he has not started in over two years.

Four goals, a clean sheet, and an impressive all-round performance from the team should see them all rewarded with a start in the derby, with Lindstrom and Jack Harrison set to be left in reserve again.

Everton possible starting lineup:

Pickford; Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Ndiaye, Gueye, Mangala, Doucoure, McNeil; Calvert-Lewin

Written by

Andrew Delaney