Everton’s predicted lineup vs Fulham: Richarlison back, James Rodriguez to shine

Seamus Coleman has been ruled out for the Fulham game.

Right back: Mason Holgate

This one may seem a bit confusing to some of you since we have a more natural right-back in Jonjoe Kenny, but personally, I just don’t think he’s been good enough for a while now, which is the reason we loaned him out to the Bundesliga last year.

Kenny still needs another loan spell to develop in my opinion, and if he can’t show good enough improvement then Everton need to think about signing a young right-back who can replace the ageing Seamus Coleman.

Even though I do see Mason as more of a centre-back, he’s proven to us before that he’s capable of playing right-back and he needs playing time if he wants to regain some sharpness after that injury which lead to him missing every game expect our most recent game against Manchester United.

Holgate has the ability to play a good pass and even if he can’t get forward and play crosses like Kenny can, he’s much more solid than Kenny defensively and also is good enough with the ball at his feet to get it down the field while also having the speed to recover, which is the problem Ben Godfrey faced while playing right-back.

I think it’s best to keep Holgate out of the centre-back position until Ancelotti believes he’s sharp enough to play 90 minutes without any complications since I do believe Holgate could be subbed off at around the 50-60th minute for Kenny, but getting Holgate on the pitch is vital to Everton because he is the best centre-back at the club so the quicker he can get back to full fitness, the better it will be for Everton’s results.

Centre-Back: Michael Keane

Keane has arguably been one Everton’s most important players this season, his massive improvement from his previous seasons as an Evertonian has seen him return to his Burnley form which lead to the Toffees paying £30million for his services. His defensive improvements have also come with some attacking contributions, with him scoring 4 goals in his 11 appearances for Everton.

One thing that he has improved on is distribution, Keane was never bad with the ball at his feet but this season he’s been excellent, which is shown by his 91.5% passing accuracy while also averaging 79.8 passes per game, this puts him tied 5th in the Premier League with £70million Manchester City man Ruben Dias.

Keane has a perfect blend of accuracy and volume with his passes, an example being his assist to Calvert-Lewin against West Ham, this has really helped him evolve his ability as a centre back who can now play it out from the back comfortably, he also has that work ethic that Sean Dyche drilled into him during his time at Burnley which now makes him a handful to deal with for most strikers.

Centre-Back: Ben Godfrey

This one may be a bit confusing to some since Yerry Mina has been trusted by Carlo to play alongside Michael Keane, but the problem with Mina is he’s quite error-prone, and the possibility of jetlag after a long flight back from South America is very possible, and a tired Mina is much more likely to make a mistake than usual so I feel now would be a good time to give the former Norwich man his chance in his natural position.

Godfrey is a fantastic player in my opinion and has the potential to be one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League and a future England international. His distribution is already at a good level for a 22-year old and he showed against Liverpool that he’s good in the challenge, I think now is the perfect time to give Godfrey a chance, who’s naturally more athletic than Keane so I think he’d be a suitable partner who could handle man-marking some of Fulham’s more agile players.

I think Carlo needs to give some of the younger players a chance to cement themselves into the team, the squad lacks depth as it is so giving some players who can be key rotational pieces chances to start is a good idea because it stops the possibility of these players getting upset and trying to get a move, a good example of one of these players would be Lookman, who believed he’d get more opportunities at Leipzig due to their focus on youth.

Left-Back: Lucas Digne

This one is pretty obvious, Digne is arguably a top 3 left-back in the world and his consistency for Everton has helped him get into arguably one of the most stacked international teams of all-time in this current France squad, where he’s picked up 2 assists in Nations League games he’s played.

Everything about Digne is great and I’ve spoken extensively about how important I think he is to this club’s future success. Digne will be vital against a poor Fulham defence with his ability to bomb forward and play highly accurate crosses to the ever aerially present Dominic Calvert-Lewin. He’s also a handful defensively and his passion and willingness to play for the badge leads to him getting back and getting some very important tackles.

The Frenchman is getting around 2 tackles and an interception which shows his previously mentioned drive to get back and defend, which can be a rarity with certain attacking full-backs. It’s clear that Digne is one of the most vital pieces to Everton’s push for European football and that will be no different against Fulham.