Everton vs Manchester City: 5 things to watch against Manchester City
By Rob Fisher
Young full backs deserve chance as Lampard needs to see all of his options
2. Everton need to freshen up in defence
After the impressive home display by all in the victory against Leeds United, Lampard decided to name an unchanged line up on the south coast last weekend. While I would not blame this on the end result, it certainly proved the Leeds performance for some was a rarity rather than the norm.
Jonjoe Kenny was selected at left back again despite him being an out and out right footer, and while he performed well against Leeds he was back to type against Southampton. One pass that he tried with the outside of his right foot instead of using his left and just went straight out of play summed up the abject display from most in a blue shirt.
Surely Vitalii Mykolenko has to come back into consideration against City as they will not allow you the time to switch inside onto your favourite foot and Mykolenko’s distribution is better in tight areas. In a game with not much expectation of getting a result it would be great for him to play and also help to take his mind off the dreadful situation in his Ukrainian homeland, a banner, seen below, will be displayed before tomorrow’s game.
https://twitter.com/CapitalLivNews/status/1497217166055194629?s=20&t=dP1pMz9JPmh1VqgGeR4ypw
Over on the other flank Seamus Coleman will likely hold on to his spot against this opposition but like Kenny his performance against Southampton was poor and will put doubts in Lampard’s mind that he can perform consistently for the rest of the season. Nathan Patterson will be given an opportunity in the FA Cup game next week, a good display there and he could well keep his place.
The centre back pairing is unlikely to be changed, not because Michael Keane or Mason Holgate played well last week but there is a lack of options due to injuries. Youngster Jarrad Branthwaite, like Patterson, will likely see a chance against Boreham Wood in the FA Cup next week.
Ben Godfrey is back in individual training so for the following league game against Spurs so then Lampard can change the centre back partnership.
It is highly unlikely Lampard would consider a back five against City as they do not play an out and out central striker which would leave defenders being pulled out of position, against City it is far better to have more numbers in midfield to contain De Bruyne, Gundogan and Silva.
Fortunately, Holgate’s poor headed clearances should be not seen on Saturday, several were unfortunately witnessed at Southampton last week, as City will keep the ball on the floor most of the game.
I’d be very surprised to see the back four unchanged again as players look to show Lampard why they deserve a place in the team, those who did last week certainly did the opposite.
Continued on the next page…