Joe Thomas - I place my faith in Simms
Football is a funny game. Imagine if, at the end of January, someone had told you that Everton would go into Easter weekend four unbeaten and with the absence of Abdoulaye Doucoure causing a major headache. Frozen out under Frank Lampard, his resurgence has been remarkable under Sean Dyche. This trip to Old Trafford is the first time he will not start for the new manager following his red card on Monday. Replacing him is now the big challenge.
My preference would be to move Alex Iwobi back into the middle, where he was a genuine creative force in the first part of the season even if the Blues barely scored any goals. Demarai Gray would then go wide right and Ellis Simms up top. For Simms, intriguingly, that would mean his first three Everton starts would have come at Stamford Bridge, Anfield then Old Trafford.
Manchester United can be dangerous from wide positions and protecting full-backs appears to be one of the reasons Dyche has stuck with Dwight McNeil and Iwobi out wide. Both have phenomenal work rates and are happy to track back and support the defenders behind them. For this reason I think Dyche will remain consistent and bring either Tom Davies or James Garner in for Doucoure and keep the rest the same. This is my team selection, however, and so I place my faith in Simms.
My team (4-5-1): Pickford; Coleman, Keane, Tarkowski, Godfrey; Gray, Onana, Gueye, Iwobi, McNeil; Simms.
READ MORE: Sean Dyche must make most crucial Everton call yet for Manchester United
Chris Beesley - Garner gets the nod from me
Sean Dyche arguably faces his biggest selection dilemma so far since his first game as Everton manager over two months ago as he ponders over how to replace the suspended Abdoulaye Doucoure for the trip to Manchester United.
The Mali international midfielder has been a mainstay for the Blues since being recalled for their 1-0 win over Premier League leaders Arsenal at Goodison Park and starting every subsequent match since. Doucoure is the only Everton player to have netted more than once for Dyche so far but is suspended at Old Trafford following his sending off for raising his hands to Harry Kane in the 1-1 draw at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Monday night.
Dyche must now decide whether to draft in another midfielder in the 30-year-old's place or whether to change tactics and go with an extra defender or striker, possibly switching to either 5-4-1 or even the 4-4-2 formation that he used extensively at previous employers Burnley. While he has plenty of options either way in the shape of centre-backs Conor Coady, Yerry Mina and Mason Holgate or frontmen Ellis Simms and Neal Maupay, given that the Blues' current 4-5-1 shape has been used throughout his entire tenure to date and has now accumulated a four-match unbeaten run, I'd be tempted to retain that system.
Neither of the likely midfield candidates James Garner or Tom Davies could be described as being 'like for like' alternatives to Doucoure but including either of them would ensure minimal disruption to the team's rhythm. Davies of course was caught in two minds when he burst through for a big late chance in the corresponding fixture last season, ultimately squaring the ball to Mina who scored but was offside rather than shooting himself, but Garner gets the nod from me in the hope that he'll be extra-motivated to put on a good show against the club that sold him last summer in a deal that could eventually be worth up to £15m.
My team (4-5-1): Pickford; Coleman, Godfrey, Keane, Tarkowski; Iwobi, Gueye, Garner, Onana, McNeil; Gray.
Paul Wheelock - Stick with formation that's served Dyche so well
As my colleague Chris Beesley wrote yesterday, this isn't an easy team selection for Sean Dyche. While the Blues boss did not hang Abdoulaye Doucoure out to dry in public - instead delivering a withering jibe to Harry Kane - there is no doubt privately he will have been disappointed that his in-form midfielder reacted to the Tottenham Hotspur and England star's provocation at Goodison Park on Monday night. Not least because Doucoure has established himself as a vital cog in Dyche's increasingly well-drilled machine and is now ruled out for three crucial matches, starting today against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
How damaging the Mali international's absence will prove to be remains to be seen, but the hope is that it is Dyche's system, rather than individual performances, that has been key to Everton's undoubted improvement under the former Burnley boss. That's why I'd stick with the same formation that has served Dyche so well rather than, say, put Ellis Simms up top alongside Demari Gray against a Man United side who, while showing signs of tiredness of late, are unbeaten at home in the league since the opening weekend of the season.
Make no mistake, this is a stern test for the Blues, much more so than Tottenham and Chelsea, and I wouldn't be tinkering with things. Therefore I'd bring Tom Davies in for Doucoure and go 4-5-1 once again. Davies has, in the past, performed well as the highest-pressing midfielder, but I actually think Amadou Onana has the skillset to replicate the role the revitalised Doucoure has taken on under Dyche best. And, after spurning a number of opportunities in recent weeks, I've got a sneaky feeling Onana may get on the scoresheet today.
My team (4-5-1): Pickford; Coleman, Godfrey, Keane, Tarkowski; Iwobi, Gueye, Davies, Onana, McNeil; Gray.
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