Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dwight McNeil dropped – Everton confirmed XI vs Manchester United
Frank Lampard’s confirmed Everton starting XI for the FA Cup third round trip to face Manchester United has been confirmed by the club.
To accommodate the injury to Nathan Patterson, Seamus Coleman captains the side that looks to have switched to a back five with the addition of Ben Godfrey.
Amadou Onana comes back into the midfield in place of Ben Davies, but in attack both Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dwight McNeil have been dropped, with Neal Maupay leading the line.
Jordan Pickford is in goal as usual, with a defence of Coleman and Godfrey alongside Conor Coady, James Tarkowski and Vitalii Mykolenko.
Onana rejoins his regular starting colleagues in midfield, Alex Iwobi and Idrissa Gana Gueye, while Maupay is alongside Demarai Gray in attack.
The French striker arrived from Brighton earlier this season and has only scored one goal, so will be in the spotlight at Old Trafford in place of Calvert-Lewin.
Heat is on
An away game at a top four side isn’t really what Lampard would have hoped for in the Toffees’ first involvement in the FA Cup this season.
Given the pressure he is under he would surely have preferred a morale-boosting home tie against lower-league opposition, but at the moment perhaps even that would represent too much of a banana skin.
The most positive result from over the last couple of months came when Everton held Erling Haaland to one goal in a battling draw at Manchester City on New Year’s Eve, so it may be that the cup visit to the red half of the city brings out the best in this embattled side again.
The manager is in desperate need of a positive result, in light of the fact that any boost gained from the point at the Etihad was emphatically overshadowed by the awful 4-1 home defeat to Brighton three days later.
Lampard’s job is now in major doubt, despite all indications prior to the return from the World Cup that the board were reluctant to make any change.
A cup run might provide some respite from the pressures of the Premier League, but exits from knockout competitions under the former Chelsea boss has often accompanied public displays of frustration with the team, and repeat at Old Trafford could leave him hanging by a thread.