Sean Dyche must keep faith with exit-bound Yerry Mina, key ingredient for Everton clash v Manchester City
Everton will be aiming to move a step closer towards Premier League safety when take on leaders Manchester City at Goodison Park on Saturday [13 May].
The Toffees will be approaching this game off the back of a superb counter-attacking display to climb out of the Premier League relegation zone with a stunning 5-1 victory against Brighton at the Amex Stadium.
Two goals each from Abdoulaye Doucoure and McNeil sandwiched in between a Jason Steele own-goal meant Everton now sit just two points away from the drop zone with three games of the season to go.
And the first of those games comes up in an incredibly difficult contest when Dyche comes up against a Pep Guardiola side hell-bent on improving their position at the top of the Premier League.
Ahead of the game, Dyche has some key decisions to make after Monday’s scintillating and unexpected victory and one of those will be whether he sticks with the same Everton team which dismantled the Seagulls.
There were a few performances from key stars which will have certainly taken Dyche’s breath away, especially from McNeil, Doucoure and Dominic Calvert-Lewin but none more important than a player facing an uncertain future at Goodison Park – Yerry Mina.
The 28-year-old, who joined for a big-money fee of £27.2m in 2018, has only featured once under Sean Dyche since his appointment because of constant injury niggles and has only made four Premier League starts all season.
Takvim reported on 26 April that the Colombian was set for a move to Fenerbache with Mina reportedly asking former Besiktas player Oscar Cordoba for more information on the Turkish league.
And according to a latest report, it certainly seems like a move to Turkey seems ever so likely for the 30-year-old defender, with Besiktas joining the race for his signature.
With plenty riding on the rest of the Everton campaign, Dyche won’t be concerned too much with the interest in Mina’s services but will be incredibly intent on drawing the utmost out of his Colombian defensive destructor once again.
The former Burnley boss decided to cut all ties with Michael Keane after his disappointing struggles in recent weeks, and start Mina against Brighton and the former Barcelona centre-back repaid that faith with a consummate and dominant performance at the heart of the Everton defence alongside James Tarkowski.
As per SofaScore, the 30-year-old picked up a decent 7.1/10 average score, winning 50% of his ground duels, 60% of his aerial duels, successfully completed 15 of his 16 passes, and registered a whopping 13 clearances in an eventful defensive performance.
Mina also registered two blocks, was only dribbled past once and gave possession away just twice highlighting his experience and qualities in possession which could prove very useful against Manchester City on Saturday [13 May].
When fit and on song, Mina can be an incredible asset as he tremendously showed in his first start for Dyche.
However, it looks as if Mina sees his future away from Goodison Park beyond this summer, and for that reason, Everton must not stand in his way.
But, for now, there’s still much to play for in the coming weeks as Everton battles against relegation and Mina could well turn out to be an unlikely and unexpected hero in their quest for English top-flight safety.