Moyes given Huge midfield boost ahead of Premier League return

Club football is nearly upon us once again after a rather intriguing three-week international break, as Everton visit the MKM stadium to take on newly promoted Hull City.

There has been a plethora of Everton players representing their respective countries over the past few weeks, with Tyler Dibling getting himself on the scoresheet, thus opening his account for England's Under-21s in a disappointing 3-1 defeat to Ireland. Tyrique George also featured for newly honoured MBE Lee Carsley's side, alongside Harrison Armstrong occupying the bench, with it being his first time at the highest youth level.

Jordan Pickford collected his seventh clean sheet in nine appearences after England secured a comfortable 3-0 victory over Czechia, with both James Garner and Jarrard Branthwaite accumilating minutes in the tank on the international stage. Pickford hasn't conceded a goal now in over 480 minutes, the longest of any goalkeeper, by some distance, in the top six leagues.

Injury worries loom over the blue sky at the Hill Dickinson for Mykolenko, as he returned earlier last week from Ukraine's set-up due to muscle problems, and with his participation in full training unconfirmed, there remains serious doubt as to who can cover, with Adam Aznou out on loan, coincidentally injured likewise.

Christopher Norgaard has yet to make an appearance for Everton so far since he joined the club in August, having struggled with fitness, but having played in the behind closed doors affair against Blackburn, the Dane looks set to be in the matchday squad.

Apart from Merlin Rohl's absence in the Toffees' last three games, there are no outstanding concerns for Everton regarding fitness issues, which is positive news amidst the worries about the amount of depth Moyes has at hand.

The Infamous Substitute

The last time Everton faced Hull City was in the third round of the Carabao Cup, where Andros Townsend buried the Tigers with a 25-yard strike that maybe should've been saved. Regardless, that game is well known across England now, not for the Blues' 3-2 win, but for two former strikers in Salomon Rondon and Cenk Tosun.

The Venezuelan made way in the 116th minute after a hard shift for none other than Cenk Tosun. The Turkish international had his fair share of criticism with his time on Merseyside, but he did do it on a cold night in Stoke once.

The clip went viral on social media after a woman ordered a pint of beer which she was not best pleased with, as the substitution occured in live time on a screen in the background, that "sent a shiver down every Everton fans spine".

Match Preview

Hull City have beaten Everton once in their Premier League history, as former striker in Nikicia Jelavic delivered the final blow in a 2-0 humbling loss back in 2015, which also saw Antolin Alcarez get sent for an early shower late on.

The Toffees look to extend their fine start to the season, and whilst there is certainly room for improvement across the board, seven games unbeaten and in the hat for the fourth round is nothing to be ashamed of.

Hull City on the other hand, have been mauled by their current form, winless in four, having dropped two points at Stamford Bridge, and out of the cup at the hands of Sunderland. Manager Sergej Jakirovic will not be losing compsure just yet however, as the Tigers have certainly exceeded expectation prior to their campaign getting underway, going toe-to-toe with every team they've faced so far.

Everton will have six fixtures before the next international break, two of them back-to-back against Newcastle United: one at home, the other at St James' Park. Should Moyes pick up a result away at Hull, he would equal Everton's best start to a season since Ancelotti in 2020, admittedly with a few more draws, but zero defeats nonetheless.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow