Dele will deliver this season - but he's not right for Chelsea
Matt Jones: Who's going to be our new Steve Watson, then?
With no actual centre-forwards in the squad, Frank Lampard is going to have to get creative with his team selection today.
The general consensus seems to be Dele Alli being asked to lead the line. Although Dele should enjoy a more important role for the Blues this season, this doesn't feel like the game for him.
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Against a physical Chelsea backline - bolstered by the arrival of the excellent Kalidou Koulibaly - hustle and hard work will the order of the day for whoever is at the sharp end for the Toffees. As much as he has a lot of different qualities, that isn't Dele's game.
The natural choice to play there for me would be Iwobi, although he may have a job to do elsewhere in midfield. He will likely line up alongside Abdoulaye Doucoure in midfield, with Allan seemingly not up to speed yet.
So a front three of Anthony Gordon, Dwight McNeil and Demarai Gray feels the best way to go, with the former duo alternating as the central attacker.
With Yerry Mina fit, the rest of the XI picks itself.
My team (5-2-3-0): Pickford; Patterson, Godfrey, Mina, Tarkowski, Mykolenko; Iwobi, Doucoure; McNeil, Gray, Gordon.
Frank Lampard has two big selection calls
Paul Wheelock: Bar from two positions, the team really picks itself.
Jordan Pickford will, obviously, start in goal, and it's Nathan Patterson and Vitalii Mykolenko as wing-backs. James Tarkowski, so impressive in pre-season, and Ben Godfrey will start either side of the middle centre-back, which will either be Michael Keane or Yerry Mina. If Mina is fit, as expected, I'd go with the big Colombian, who will no doubt be out to wind Chelsea up as much as he did in last season's corresponding fixture.
The hero of that day, Richarlison, has now left the club, of course, and with Dominic Calvert-Lewin injured and Salomon Rondon suspended, it leaves Blues boss Frank Lampard with a real dilemma over who to start up front. I can see the merits of pushing Alex Iwobi up top - he would press the life out of Thomas Tuchel's team - and Dwight McNeil showed on his debut against Dynamo Kyiv what a threat he can be from a central position.
But I think this is Dele Alli's chance. However he plays it will be hard to fully judge his performance as he has no real experience of leading the line. However, he has plenty of know-how and he showed against Blackpool in the summer - although the opponents have to be taken into consideration - that he still has the ability to ghost into the box from the 'false nine' position.
He'll be backed up by Anthony Gordon and Demarai Gray, with McNeil sure to be introduced off the bench, and with Lampard's midfield options severely hampered before the cavalry arrives, it will have to be Iwobi and Abdoulaye Doucoure in the centre of the park.
My team (3-4-3): Pickford, Godfrey, Mina, Tarkowski; Patterson, Iwobi, Doucoure, Mykolenko; Gray, Dele, Gordon.
Connor O'Neill:
A new season, but the same old problems for Frank Lampard ahead of Everton’s opening Premier League game of the season.
An injury to Dominic Calvert-Lewin again means Lampard’s options going forward are extremely limited. It is far from ideal for the Blues.
Jordan Pickford will no doubt start in goal, with Ben Godfrey, Yerry Mina and James Tarkowski making up the back three. Nathan Patterson and Vitaliy Mykolenko should start as the wing-backs.
In midfield, Abdoulaye Doucoure should be partnered by Alex Iwobi, with Anthony Gordon and Dwight McNeil on either side, with Dele in the false nine position.
My team (5-4-1): Pickford, Godfrey, Mina, Tarkowski, Patterson, Mykolenko, Doucoure, Iwobi, Gordon, McNeil, Dele.
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