Before each match, we've been trying to get into David Moyes' head and predict who he'll put into his starting XI for the upcoming game. This time around, while we were correct that Moyes would rotate his squad quite a bit, some of the actual changes he made were quite surprising.
The Everton lineup for today's Carabao Cup match away to Wolves dropped just a few minutes ago, and it's safe to say that Moyes thought it was time to get some of his players a chance to get off their feet. The manager made seven changes from the weekend contest against Liverpool.
Your Toffees to take on @Wolves in the @Carabao_Cup third round this evening! 🔵 pic.twitter.com/TnyB5LIeAx
— Everton (@Everton) September 23, 2025
Mark Travers, Dwight McNeil, Thierno Barry, Tyler Dibling, Seamus Coleman, Tim Iroegbunam, and Charly Alcaraz all join the fray, creating a rather interesting set of questions.
For one, Moyes has named three center backs in Michael Keane, James Tarkowski, and Jake O'Brien, but also one right back in Coleman, meaning O'Brien, who has been moonlighting as a right back since Moyes arrival, might be push back to his more natural position but in a back three.
Coleman and McNeil could make sense as wing backs, but then what does the rest of the formation look like?
There's no natural left winger on the pitch if McNeil is a wing back, as both Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye are on the bench for today's match. That creates a bit of an odd, unbalanced formation, with James Garner and Iroegbunam in midfield and only two attackers, in Alcaraz and Dibling, outside of Barry leading the line.
The other way to read the lineup is that Coleman will just square-peg in at left back, making McNeil the left winger, with Alcaraz in the center, and Dibling on the right. It's also possible that it will look more like a back four while defending (Coleman-O'Brien-Tark-Keane), but slip into a back three when on the attack.
It also seems strange that the manager seems to be bending over backward to not give newly signed teenager Adam Aznou an opportunity, as the easy fix here was to plug the Moroccon in at left back and avoid the sudden system change altogether.
No matter how you read it, it's certainly a different thought process for Moyes. We'll soon see how it works out for Everton, as the match is coming very soon.