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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
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Joe Thomas & Chris Beesley & Matt C Jones

Everton line-ups for Wolves as Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Mason Holgate decisions made

Joe Thomas - Dyche cannot afford to blunt the attack

I’m working on the approach Dominic Calvert-Lewin is fit and so there is only one question for me - though it is a big one: Who plays instead of Vitalii Mykolenko?

There are very few options here. With Ben Godfrey and Seamus Coleman out injured and Conor Coady ineligible to play, Sean Dyche does not have a lot of wriggle room even if he wanted to change shape - something he has suggested across the past week. Possibly the best pound-for-pound option is to go three at centre back and move Dwight McNeil to left wing back. But in a game Everton could really do with winning I’d prefer not to blunt the club’s best attacking player of recent weeks.

I’m also not sure a move to a different formation would be advisable at such short notice. So for me, though he has struggled at full back, the best option is probably to stick with Mason Holgate at left back and keep everything the same. Should Calvert-Lewin not be available to start it has to be Demarai Gray up top for me.

My team (4-3-3): Pickford: Holgate, Tarkowski, Mina, Patterson; McNeil, Doucoure, Garner, Gueye, Iwobi; Calvert-Lewin

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Chris Beesley - Holgate still the most sensible left-back option

Hopefully Dominic Calvert-Lewin is fit enough to spearhead Everton's attack again so the big dilemma for Sean Dyche ahead of the trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers is who plays at left-back.

The Blues boss admitted that the chances of Vitalii Mykolenko returning at Molineux were slim and hinted at a potential change in shape but given his reluctance to chop and change, you wonder whether that was bluff. Dwight McNeil probably is Everton's best option at left-back right now but you don't really want to waste one of the squad's in-form attacking outlets by wasting him in such a withdrawn role.

Retaining Mason Holgate in the position would be the least-disruptive option but given his struggles there last Sunday - plus his sending off when deployed as a right-back in his previous outing at Crystal Palace - can he be trusted? I'm not so sure if the Blues have any real alternatives other than making major alterations to how they've been playing.

My team (4-5-1): Pickford; Patterson, Holgate, Mina, Tarkowski; Gueye, Garner, Doucoure, Iwobi, McNeil; Calvert-Lewin

Matt Jones - Replicate Brighton as much as possible

Everton found a formula for winning away from home against Brighton & Hove Albion in their previous Premier League jaunt and for the trip to Wolves this weekend manager Sean Dyche should try to replicate that blueprint as much as possible.

He has 10 of the 11 cogs that made up that 5-1 win - assuming Dominic Calvert-Lewin is fit after last week - although the absence of Vitalii Mykolenko is a troublesome one. While the Ukrainian has struggled in the main this season, without Ruben Vinagre and Ben Godfrey available, there really is no natural alternative in the position.

So Mason Holgate, who was twisted and torn apart by Riyad Mahrez last week, will likely have to go again. If it's Adama Traore on the right flank for Wolves, it could be another testing afternoon for the out-of-favour defender.

But if Everton's attack can smash five goals in on the road again, any degradation in defensive performance shouldn't matter. Right?

My team (4-5-1): Pickford; Patterson, Mina, Tarkowski, Holgate; Gueye, Garner, Doucoure, Iwobi, McNeil; Calvert-Lewin

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