A look at the potential changes to the starting XI that David Moyes can make for Everton’s trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers
After a hectic schedule of six matches in February, the shortest month of the year, the 31 days of March bring just two fixtures for Everton as David Moyes will look for some of his injured stars to return for the season’s run-in. Following a 1-1 draw at Brentford, a result that extended the Blues’ unbeaten sequence in the Premier League to seven games, and another trip to London that Moyes’ men should have perhaps triumphed in given the hat-trick of big chances that in-form striker Beto squandered, the squad have now flown out to the United Arab Emirates to enjoy some warm-weather training ahead of returning to action at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday March 8.
With the sun on their backs over the next week – temperatures in Abu Dhabi are currently a comfortable 23 degrees Celsius before due to climb to a more abrasive 34 degrees in the days after Everton have returned home – the manager will get the opportunity to get to know his players better as they bask in the warm glow of their recent push away from relegation danger.
Even before the Blues headed out to the Persian Gulf, there were some green shoots of recovery in terms of some of their sidelined players returning to fitness.
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Youssef Chermiti hasn’t kicked a ball in the first team this term in what has been an injury-hit season, but he was named among the substitutes for Wednesday night’s fixture at the Gtech Community Stadium.
It might be a stretch to suggest he could be in line to replace Beto at Molineux after the striker who had netted five goals in Everton’s previous four Premier League games spurned a hat-trick of inviting chances against the Bees. But at least the Guinea-Bissau international is no longer the only senior frontman at Moyes’ disposal and Chermiti produced some encouraging displays late in the campaign last term.
Also on the comeback trail is Moyes’ fellow Glaswegian Nathan Patterson, who joined Chermiti on the bench in the capital. Since his £11million move from Rangers in January 2022, the Scotland international’s time at Goodison Park has been blighted by injuries and he could have a big job on his hands now to dislodge Jake O’Brien in the right-back berth after the big Irishman netted his first goal for the club – something that Patterson has so far failed to achieve – to secure a share of the spoils against Thomas Frank’s side.
Someone who might have a better chance of getting back into the team is Abdoulaye Doucoure, who was given an instant recall for the home game against Manchester United after serving a one-match suspension for his post-match red card following the Merseyside derby.
Despite scoring in the 2-2 draw with the Red Devils, the 32-year-old missed the trip to Brentford because his wife was about to give birth and while Carlos Alcaraz again did well in his absence, Doucoure’s hard-running style proves popular with managers as it almost enables him to fulfil two positions as both a deeper placed and more advanced central midfielder.
Tim Iroegbunam continues to push for a place in the engine room, toolk, with his encouraging cameos off the bench, but right now, Idrissa Gueye and James Garner look to be a solid partnership.
Ashley Young can fill in out wide in either defence or attack but after being a regular starter under his former Watford team-mate Sean Dyche, Everton’s oldest-ever outfield player is generally having to make do with a bit-part role under Moyes with Jesper Lindstrom and Jack Harrison continuing to put in a shift on the flanks, although it would be nice to see some goals or assists from a pair operating in the final third of the pitch before the season is over.