Everton at Nottingham Forest: Predicted Line-Up | Waiting For Grealish

Everton, already minus Idrissa Gueye, Iliman Ndiaye, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Jarrad Branthwaite and Seamus Coleman, lost Jack Grealish as well for the Burnley game on Saturday. With such a quick turnaround between games, none of the former are expected to be available, which then leaves the Blues waiting for Grealish.

The star winger was reportedly unwell according to David Moyes, but was also spotted partying all night in downtown London over the Christmas break so who even knows anymore.

The Toffees had just recently welcomed Sean Dyche and his Forest side to Hill Dickinson Stadium, so this will be a revenge game as the Blues now visit the City Ground. Dyche will also be out about half a dozen players – Chris Wood, Willy Boly, Ibrahim Sangare, Ola Aina, Dan Ndoye and Ryan Yates – but Forest do have a much larger squad to choose from.

Who’s Out?

Seamus Coleman (hamstring), Jarrad Branthwaite (hamstring), Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (hamstring) are all confirmed out. Idrissa Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye are at AFCON and Jack Grealish may or may not have recovered from ‘illness’.

Everton squad available vs Nottingham Forest

Goalkeepers: Pickford, Travers, King

Defenders: Keane, Branthwaite (INJURED), Tarkowski, O’Brien, Mykolenko, Coleman (INJURED), Patterson, Aznou

Midfielders: Gueye (AFCON), Garner, Iroegbunam, Dewsbury-Hall (INJURED), Röhl

Wingers: McNeil, Ndiaye (AFCON), Grealish (ILLNESS), Dibling, Alcaraz

Strikers: Beto, Barry

Tactics and Formation

Everton will likely stick to the 4-2-3-1 they’ve used so far.

Starters (likelihood of starting rated out of 10)

Jordan Pickford – 9/10

Vitaliy Mykolenko – 8/10One of three players on the edge of a five-yellow-card suspension.

Michael Keane – 9/10

James Tarkowski – 9/10 Second of three players on the edge of a five-yellow-card suspension.

Jake O’Brien – 8/10

James Garner – 9/10 Last of three players on the edge of a five-yellow-card suspension.

Tim Iroegbunam – 8/10 Had a very good game last time around.

Jack Grealish – 8/10 Anticipating he will be well enough to play. The Blues really need some inspiration.

Dwight McNeil – 6/10

Tyler Dibling – 8/10 A breath of fresh air on Saturday. Would love to see him get another start.

Thierno Barry – 8/10

Bench

Mark Travers

Tom King

Nathan Patterson

Adam Aznou

Merlin Rohl – Didn’t do enough in his substitute appearance to win a start.

Charly Alcaraz – Has been very unimpressive for weeks now.

Beto

Reece Welch

Elijah Campbell