Nick Ware

Fri 29 January 2021 13:37, UK

Everton will be aiming to keep up their impressive recent run of results when they play host to a Newcastle United side in crisis on Saturday.

Newcastle are in freefall after losing their last six games and they have not won since beating basement boys West Brom on December 12, meaning they have gone 11 matches without a win.

The form of Carlo Ancelotti’s side could not be more different.

Everton are unbeaten in their last four matches in all competitions and have lost just once in their last eight Premier League outings.

We held free-scoring Leicester City to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday to break the Foxes five-game winning streak.

This was done without the services of midfield enforcer Abdoulaye Doucoure who was suspended for the midweek fixture and he will be hoping to force his way back into the Everton starting XI.

Choosing the goalkeeper is usually the easiest decision in these predicted XI’s but Jordan Pickford’s awful error for Youri Tielemans’ equaliser on Wednesday throws his selection into doubt/

And with Ancelotti showing he is not afraid to rotate his keepers we believe Robin Olsen will be given the opportunity to stake his claim for the number one jersey.

Pickford has history of performing poorly against Newcastle and has shown a propensity to let emotions get the better of him with his Sunderland allegiances while Olsen has proved to be a reliable performer whenever called upon.

The Italian tactician sprung a surprise of sorts against Leicester when he opted for a 4-4-2 with Lucas Digne on the left hand side of midfield like he did against Wolves in their previous Premier League fixture when they were without the services of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison up front.

However with Newcastle arguably the most defensive side in the division and playing extremely deep we think the Blues need as much attacking weaponry as possible and for that reason Digne reverts to left back while Seamus Coleman comes in to offer some width down the right, with Yerry Mina and Michael Keane lining up in the centre of defence.

That means Mason Holgate and Ben Godfrey drop to the bench which is particularly harsh on the latter but against a stubborn Newcastle defence as many attacking outlets are needed as possible with these two more famed for their defensive efforts.

The aforementioned Doucoure must come back into the starting XI after serving his suspension to add some drive to the Everton midfield alongside Tom Davies who operates a bit deeper.

That means Andre Gomes drops out as we foresee a 4-2-3-1 formation to get four attackers into the side with the mercurial talents of James Rodriguez gliding in front of the double pivot after his brilliant opener against Leicester.

Alex Iwobi was restricted to a substitute cameo on Wednesday and did not appear in the FA Cup last weekend so he should be fresh to bring some energy to the right wing.

Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin complete our line-up with both players influential members of the attacking set-up.

This all means that there will be four changes from midweek with Pickford, Holgate, Godfrey and Gomes all missing from our predicted XI.

A win could see the Blues leapfrog Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham into fifth with those sides playing on Sunday.

The race is heating up for those European places and Ancelotti will be expecting all three points at Goodison Park as the season moves into its second phase.

In other Everton news, our view on Ben Godfrey’s next step after a sensational start to his Blues career.