The Frank Lampard era at Everton got off to a flying start at the weekend.
The Toffees beat Brentford 4-1 in the FA Cup to progress to the fifth round, and they will be hoping to carry this momentum into the Premier League.
Unfortunately for Everton, they’re coming up against a new-look Newcastle United side who may well be rejuvenated by their January transfer business.
If the Toffees are to get a win here, Frank Lampard will have to get his team selection spot on, and with that in mind, we’ve had a go at predicting the Toffees’ starting XI here.
Lampard may have played a 3-4-3 against Brentford, but we expect him to revert to his favoured 4-2-3-1 here as Newcastle are likely to line-up in a 4-3-3.
Lampard utilised a back four for the majority of his time at Chelsea and Derby, and while he altered his tactics to counter-act Brentford’s back three, that change is likely to be temporary.
Understandably, a change in formation brings about a change in personnel.
There are two changes here. Dele Alli and Donny van de Beek come in for Ben Godfrey and Andre Gomes to make their Everton debuts, while the rest of the XI remains the same.
Richarlison once again spearheads the attack as Dominic Calvert-Lewin continues to recover from his recent knock.
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