Everton at Tottenham: Predicted Line-Up | Time to Rotate?

A defeat to at home to Manchester United last weekend brought Everton’s seven-game unbeaten run to a halt, and next up for the Blues is two tricky away tries in the space of five days: a trip to Tottenham, followed by a visit to Newcastle.

But one defeat hasn’t derailed the feelgood Everton train – although it may have tempered expectations somewhat.

It’s still hard to decipher where this new-look Everton team will be placed at the end of the season. Likely it will be a return to a bumbling midtable finishes of 7^th to 12^th that we saw in seven consecutive seasons prior to last season’s scare.

This time though, it feels like we’re finally moving forward with cautious, pragmatic optimism. So how will Super Frank line-up his Mighty Blues at what might soon be called the Google Stadium?

Who’s Out?

Anthony Gordon’s only real contribution against United was a rash yellow card – his fifth of the season – which means he’ll be ruled out of this one. Other than that, there’s not much change in availability, with only Abdoulaye Doucoure returning after missing out last week due to a family issue.

Mason Holgate has returned to full training but won’t quite be ready for this one, while Nathan Patterson is hopefully only two or three weeks away from a return.

Yerry Mina has had an unsurprising setback in his recovery, while Ben Godfrey and Andros Townsend remain long-term absentees.

EVERTON SQUAD AVAILABLE VS SPURS

Goalkeepers: Pickford, Begovic, Lonergan, Jakupovic

Defenders: Keane, Mina (INJURED), Godfrey (INJURED), Tarkowski, Holgate (INJURED), Coady, Mykolenko, Coleman, Patterson (INJURED), Vinagre, Welch

Midfielders: Doucoure, Iwobi, Davies, Onana, Gueye, Garner

Wingers: Gray, Gordon (SUSPENDED), Townsend (INJURY), McNeil, Mills

Attackers: Calvert-Lewin, Rondon, Maupay

Tactics and Formation

After some pretty predictable team selections of late, we’ll likely see some rotation this week – although that will most likely come at Newcastle.

The backline picks itself at the moment. The midfield trio of Gueye, Iwobi and Onana has done well for the most part, but I expect this trio to be potentially shuffled for Davies, Garner and Doucoure in midweek.

Up top, Maupay will continue to lead the line as DCL builds up his fitness, while McNeil will come in for the suspended Gordon.

Starters (likelihood of starting rated out of 10)

Jordan Pickford – 10/10

Seamus Coleman – 10/10

James Tarkowski – 10/10

Conor Coady – 10/10

Vitaliy Mykolenko – 10/10

Idrissa Gana Gueye – 8/10

Amadou Onana – 8/10

Alex Iwobi – 9/10

Dwight McNeil – 8/10

Neal Maupay – 9/10

Demarai Gray – 10/10

Bench

Asmir Begovic

Michael Keane

Ruben Vinagre

Abdoulaye Doucoure

Tom Davies

James Garner

Kyle John

Salomon Rondon

Dominic Calvert-Lewin

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Photo by Tony McArdle/Everton FC via Getty Images