Everton will start next season at home to Fulham, a game that holds painful memories from last season.
It feels barely weeks ago that even with manager - former Blues boss Marco Silva - confined to the stands and the club’s star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic serving a lengthy ban the next league opponents at Goodison Park were able to overcome a despondent Everton side.
The 3-1 defeat was a low point of Sean Dyche’s tenure as a winnable game ended up being another reminder of the peril Everton faced - and that the relegation battle would enter the final weeks of the season.
The defeat that day was rooted in the poor start made by Everton. Dyche had began by lining up his side in a 4-4-2 formation, despite seeing similar tactics seven days earlier leading to a 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford that could have been so much worse. Despite the importance of the fixture to Everton, the hosts began feebly and went behind to Harrison Reed’s effort before a change in formation led to Dwight McNeil’s leveller. That was not enough to prevent Everton from falling to another one of too many home defeats in the second half, however.
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While Dyche’s approach to the game came under scrutiny he was forced to deviate from the Plan A that had worked well following his appointment due to injury and suspension. Abdoulaye Doucoure, the most influential player across Dyche's reign so far, missed the match due to his three game ban following a red card against Tottenham Hotspur, while Seamus Coleman had limped off in the previous game against Manchester United. That left Ben Godfrey starting in the unfamiliar position of right back. Meanwhile, it was James Garner’s first Premier League start - though he played well and went on to excel in the final weeks - while Neal Maupay started upfront alongside Demarai Gray, the first time that pairing was used in a match.
Two months of the transfer window will pass before Fulham return to L4 and so Everton’s squad could look substantially different by then. But even if it is not, Blues can expect to see a very different line-up for that match in comparison to the last visit of Silva’s side.
Dyche’s favoured system is 4-5-1 and from the current squad there is little doubt Dominic Calvert-Lewin would lead the forward line should he be available.
Seamus Coleman, should he sign his new deal, or Nathan Patterson - both of whom also ended the last campaign injured - would come in for Godfrey while Abdoulaye Doucoure, whose contract has been extended, would likely enter, with Gray and Maupay dropping to the bench.
One question for Dyche would be whether to start Amadou Onana or Garner in the middle. Onana is the subject of speculation he may move away this summer, so it may not be a dilemma Dyche has to face, but given his role in the relegation run-in, Garner may be favoured. With Conor Coady having returned to Wolves and Yerry Mina’s contract having expired, Dyche would likely revert to Michael Keane at centre back - though he is keen to look at Jarrad Branthwaite in pre-season after his successful loan spell at PSV Eindhoven.
Most likely XI to face Fulham, as the squad stands: Pickford; Mykolenko, Keane, Tarkowski, Coleman; McNeil, Garner, Gueye, Doucoure, Iwobi; Calvert-Lewin
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