Dele Alli and Donny van de Beek to start – Everton predicted XI v Brentford
Frank Lampard is expected to name a strong starting line-up for his first match in charge of Everton on Saturday when his new club welcomes Brentford to Goodison Park in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Deadline day signings Dele Alli and Donny van de Beek could be thrown straight into the side with Lampard predicted to make six changes from Duncan Ferguson’s team that lost to Aston Villa on 22 January.
Jonjoe Kenny, Mason Holgate, Ben Godfrey and Andre Gomes are expected to be axed while an injury to Abdoulaye Doucoure keeps him out and there are rumours of Dominic Calvert-Lewin being a doubt.
Lampard could restore Seamus Coleman, Michael Keane, Vitaly Mykolenko and Allan to the side while also dishing out debuts to loanee van de Beek and permanent signing Alli.
Jordan Pickford is expected to keep his place in goals behind a back-four of Coleman, Keane, Yerry Mina and Rafa Benitez’s January signing Mykolenko.
Van de Beek and Allan may start in the deeper-lying midfield roles.
Lampard could name Andros Townsend on the right-wing and Demarai Gray on the left-wing with Alli in the No 10 role in behind Richarlison up front.
It’s a strong team but we feel that Lampard will want to hit the ground running at Goodison Park and show that he means business not only in the Premier League but also in the FA Cup.
It’ll be a great chance to throw his new signings into the spotlight and also allow the senior players among his newly-inherited squad to show him – and the fans – what they’re made of.
In other Everton news, the Blues want talks to seal a major boardroom appointment.