It’s often said in football that you shouldn’t change a winning side but having kept faith with the same 11 that suffered a third consecutive defeat at Newcastle United and then beating Crystal Palace 3-0, does Frank Lampard now decide to stick or twist? The emphatic nature of Everton’s success against the Eagles certainly makes it look like a tough ask for those currently not in the starting line-up to force their way in but there are still some questions to answer in terms of team selection.
Lampard confirmed ahead of the Palace game that Nathan Patterson is expected to be back fit in time for next weekend’s trip to Fulham. The 21-year-old started the first eight matches of this season in all competitions before picking up and ankle injury on international duty with Scotland.
However, even if the £12million signing from Rangers is ready to return, captain Seamus Coleman has impressed in his absence and produced arguably his best performance of the campaign so far against Palace when shackling Wilfried Zaha and the 34-year-old Irishman won’t be willing to give up his place in the side without a fight. The same goes for the rest of the defence with centre-back pair James Tarkowski and Conor Coady both producing dominant displays against the Eagles while left-back Vitalii Mykolenko not only kept the visitors at bay but got forward more often to much greater effect than of late.
