Everton return to Premier League action on Saturday evening. Selhurst Park is the venue and Crystal Palace are the opponents after the drama of Wednesday’s clash with Liverpool.
James Tarkowski thundered home an equaliser in the final seconds to earn the Blues a deserved 2-2 draw in midweek, extending David Moyes’ impressive run since returning to the dugout. The match did come at a cost though – Abdoulaye Doucoure will be suspended for today’s encounter after he picked up a red card after the final whistle, while Iliman Ndiaye is set to be sidelined for weeks due to a knee ligament problem.
It means Moyes will have just 13 senior players to call upon for the showdown at Selhurst Park. Jack Harrison is poised to come in, while Tim Iroegbunam and Carlos Alcaraz are the options to replace to Doucoure.
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Joe Thomas and Chris Beesley have made their selection picks ahead of the game below.
Joe Thomas
Picking a team isn’t that tough this week, given how few options David Moyes has at his disposal. With Abdoulaye Doucoure suspended and Iliman Ndiaye out for the foreseeable future, there are just 13 fit, senior outfield players available. Isaac Heath and Martin Sherif were left out of the Under-21s’ game with Southampton yesterday, so I think they will be party of the squad. But even if you throw in the two keepers, Asmir Begovic and Joao Virginia, there’s still room on the bench.
For me, the only dilemma is between Jack Harrison and Tim Iroegbunam. Both had positive performances from the bench against Liverpool. Carlos Alcaraz is a no brainer for me but do you put him out wide or in the middle?
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Right, I think what I would do is start Harrison in Ndiaye’s spot on the left. He is growing in confidence and this is another chance for him to continue to build it on his favoured side. I would then have Alcaraz in the middle. I wouldn’t play him quite as a number 10, I think he would have to sit deeper, but Moyes does think he can do and he took on such a role in the latter stages of the derby. He would have some protection behind him from Idrissa Gueye and James Garner, so there is some scope for him to push forward.
My team (4-5-1): Pickford; Mykolenko, Branthwaite, Tarkowski, O’Brien; Harrison, Garner, Alcaraz, Gueye, Lindstrom; Beto
Chris Beesley
David Moyes wants to keep the feel-good factor going at Everton following another precious point being secured with the last kick of the game in Goodison Park’s final Merseyside Derby. Speaking ahead of this evening’s trip to Crystal Palace, the Blues boss revealed that the day after the dramatic 2-2 draw with the Premier League leaders, he’d had talks with The Friedkin Group about their plans for the club’s future, but in terms of the right now, said: “The players’ attitude and the way they’ve played recently gives me confidence that, if we can take Liverpool on in a certain way, hopefully it will give us a chance in other games.”
You’ve got to be careful what you say or do right now in these parts, because in the eyes of some individuals whose hubris matches their hypocrisy, celebrating last-gasp goals against you most bitter rivals and thus ensuring that after over 130 years of derby combat, Everton didn’t finish with a losing record against Liverpool at Anfield, is apparently frowned upon, but Blues players, staff or supporters should never feel the need to bow to such supposedly ‘sensitive’ souls whose paranoia and self-entitlement extends to creating conspiracy theories about the choice of player on the cover of the Blues’ matchday programme!
Anyway, despite their heroic display at ‘The Grand Old Lady’ last time out, Moyes’ men are heading down to Selhurst Park done to the bare bones. Abdoulaye Doucoure is of course suspended after his post-final whistle red card against Liverpool but the medial ligament injury that left Iliman Ndiaye, Everton’s magic man this season, leaving the field in tears midway through the first half of Wednesday night’s game appears to be a longer term concern.
To plug the gaps, I would hand winter deadline day loan signing Charly Alcaraz his first start in place of Doucoure. The Argentinian caught the eye with his cameo against Bournemouth and while he failed to have as much influence in the hurly-burly against Arne Slot’s side, this seems the ideal opportuninty to see what he can do from the kick-off, although Tim Iroegbunam cannot be ruled out of consideration given that he provided one of the most-important flick-ons in Everton history to provide the assist for James Tarkowski’s volley.
Out on the left wing, it seems a straight shoot-out between Jack Harrison and Ashley Young to replace Ndiaye. Harrison produced an encouraging cameo against Liverpool but given that the Blues are going to have to dig in against the Eagles, I’m tempted 
to go with the wily veteran.
