Everton head into tonight's home match against Bournemouth on a high note after their rousing comeback on Saturday against Fulham at Craven Cottage.
In fact, the Toffees' overall form has been rather solid, as they're riding a five match unbeaten streak in the Premier League, albeit with a loss to Sunderland in the FA Cup sandwiched in between those games. The only downside is that three of those contests have ended in 1-1 draws, which means David Moyes' men aren't maximizing points at this crucial point in the season.
Still, they sit in 8th in the table heading into Matchweek 26, and Opta Analyst indicates that the Blues are most likely to finish in that same position, and with the league on track to secure five Champions League bids, that 8th place spot might be good enough to sneak into Europe.
But first Everton must take care of business against Bournemouth on Tuesday night, a team currently sitting in 11th place, but just three points behind the Toffees. The Cherries would only overtake Everton's spot in the table with a win by 4 or more goals.
Given that both sides just played matches on Saturday, you would expect to see some squad rotation, something neither side is full equipped to do given a lack of solid depth in Everton's case or a rather sizable injury list in Bournemouth's.
Rather than trotting out a full expected starting XI, let's look at changes Moyes could make to the side that won at Fulham on the weekend.
No.1: Jarrad Branthwaite for Michael Keane
The pairing of Keane and James Tarkowski isn't athletic enough to function in the Premier League on a weekly basis, where each player's lack of pace doesn't fit well next to the other.
The ideal center back pairing is Branthwaite and Jake O'Brien, but Moyes doesn't fully trust Nathan Patterson at right back, and the squad isn't exactly teeming with options there.
At least pushing Keane back to the bench and rekindling the Tark/JB duo that was so successful most of last season would be a step in the right direction.
No.2: Tyrique George for Harrison Armstrong
This is not a knock on Armstrong. It isn't his fault that Moyes has asked him to play out of position in recent weeks. But the kid is not a winger, and it isn't good for the manager to keep asking him to moonlight as one.
Honestly, either one of the young wingers, either George or Tyler Dibling, would be a good move for Moyes to make, and it would be even better if he could find a way to get both on the pitch at the same time.
Either way, Armstrong shouldn't be asked to play out wide any further.
No.3: Nathan Patterson for Jake O'Brien (who moves to CB)
You thought we were content with bringing Branthwaite into the defense? Never mind that. Let's overhaul three-quarters of the back line.
O'Brien continues to be a good soldier, but he's not a fullback. To be fair, Patterson isn't fully one either, but at least he has the ability to progress the ball forward, even if he doesn't often know what to do with it when he does.
If Moyes doesn't want to play Patterson, then the manager made two massive mistakes in January: not letting his fellow Scotland international go out on loan and not signing a replacement to be his long term answer at right back.