Liam Thomas

Mon 2 January 2023 18:10, UK

Everton will face Brighton in the Premier League trip at Goodison Park on January 3 and Frank Lampard is expected to make little change to his side.

The Blues will be without Amadou Onana through suspension after the maestro picked up his fifth yellow card of the season against Manchester City.

This means the Premier League clash could see the return of Abdoulaye Doucouré to Lampard’s starting XI to replace the suspended Onana in the Blues engine room.

Jordan Pickford is expected to resume his position in between the sticks for the Blues, he put in another solid outing against the Citizens and the Blues expect nothing less from their star goalkeeper.

James Tarkowski, Conor Coady and Ben Godfrey could line up together at the heart of Lampard’s backline of five defenders, something which worked well against City and gained the Toffees a point.

Nathan Patterson and Vitalii Mykolenko should provide Everton’s backline with some width, Mykolenko in particular had a classy outing against Pep Guardiola’s City.

Doucoure could come into Lampard’s side to replace the suspended Onana, it would be a toss-up between him and Tom Davies but Lampard could opt for the more experienced Frenchman.

Idrissa Gana Gueye could partner him in Everton’s midfield anchor, the Senegalese international had a fantastic game at the Etihad on 31 December.

Demarai Gray and Alex Iwobi should play on either side of the Blues’ flanks, Gray’s goal-of-the-season contender against Manchester City should be enough to see him given another start.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin should continue to lead Everton’s line up top, the Englishman needs as many minutes as he can get under his belt at the moment.

Predicted Everton line-up: Pickford; Patterson, Mykolenko, Tarkowski, Coady, Godfrey; Gueye, Doucoure; Gray, Iwobi; Calvert-Lewin