Joe Thomas - Chance to send a reminder to Lampard
This is a massive game for a number of players. Frank Lampard has said he will make changes, though he still intends to take it seriously, and so it will be a rare opportunity for a number of squad players to make their case for the first team.
With the likes of Abdoulaye Doucoure, Salomon Rondon, Tom Davies and Yerry Mina approaching the final six months of their contracts and Michael Keane having played just 22 minutes in the league so far, the Carabao Cup tie could present important chances for some to remind Lampard and his staff what they are capable of.
I would make a host of changes for this - and crucially give Neal Maupay and James Garner starts as they look likely to be needed on Saturday given the injuries suffered against Leicester City. I would rest Jordan Pickford, the centre-backs, Vitalii Mykolenko and Alex Iwobi too and would love to see Stanley Mills and Tom Cannon get on the pitch. Everton are struggling going forward and this may be an opportunity to look at some of the in-form youngsters.
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I would stick with the 4-3-3 and give Keane a chance - probably alongside Mason Holgate, who needs minutes after his injury. I would not quite risk starting Yerry Mina, who is in contention but also on the return from injury. The U21s involved tonight are likely to be on the bench, but I'd be tempted to start Mills.
My team (4-3-3): Begovic; Vinagre, Keane, Holgate, Patterson; Garner, Doucoure, Davies; McNeil, Mills, Maupay.
Chris Beesley - Keep experienced pair at the back
How much shuffling of the pack should Frank Lampard indulge in for tonight's Carabao Cup tie at Bournemouth is the big dilemma for the Everton manager ahead of the first part of his side's double header at the Vitality Stadium ahead of the World Cup break. While their injuries hopefully aren't serious, the Blues boss is presumably without the trio of Idrissa Gueye, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Amadou Onana for this game at least, if not Saturday's return trip too so there could be some enforced changes to start with.
Those of you who keep tabs on these articles will know that I consider the cup rotation of goalkeepers to be one of the biggest follies in modern football so while I suspect Lampard will pick Asmir Begovic, who turned out at Fleetwood Town in the previous round, against his previous club, personally I'd retain Jordan Pickford. To be fair, the Bosnia and Herzegovina international is a safe pair of hands and one of the most accomplished number twos in the business but there's no actual need to 'rest' goalkeepers.
In terms of the back four, I'd make changes in both of the full-back positions, giving 34-year-old captain Seamus Coleman a breather on the right as Nathan Patterson comes back in while also taking a look at Ruben Vinagre on the left which ensures Vitalii Mykolenko makes way. However, as much as Michael Keane and Mason Holgate are both champing at the bit for playing time, I wouldn't break up the Conor Coady-James Tarkowski partnership in the heart of defence that has improved the solidity of the side at the back so much this season in the area of the pitch most dependent on communication.
The likely absences of Gueye and Onana ensures the midfield needs a revamp though so James Garner comes in for his long-awaited first start for Everton while Abdoulaye Doucoure - a regular until this season - also comes into the side with Alex Iwobi retaining his place. On the wings, Demarai Gray has started every game so far this season - due to a late call in the previous round at Fleetwood when he scored the winner after Tom Davies got injured in the warm-up - so he's the one taken out here with Anthony Gordon and Dwight McNeil on the flanks.
Up front, it's a different kind of figure spearheading the attack as Neal Maupay, who forged his Premier League reputation further across the south coast at Brighton & Hove Albion, coming in for Dominic Calvert-Lewin as the Frenchman looks to add to his solitary strike for the Blues so far.
My team (4-3-3): Pickford; Patterson, Coady, Tarkowski, Vinagre; Garner, Doucoure, Iwobi; Gordon, McNeil, Maupay.
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