Everton line-ups as Ashley Young and Abdoulaye Doucoure decisions made for Aston Villa

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - AUGUST 17: Sean Dyche, Manager of Everton, gestures towards Ashley Young of Everton after he receives a red card during the Premier League match between Everton FC and Brighton & Hove Albion FC at Goodison Park on August 17, 2024 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
-Credit: (Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)


Everton are back in action on Saturday night. The Blues travel to Aston Villa looking to pick up their first point in the Premier League this season, having lost all three of their first top-flight games.

Villa Park will be a difficult place to get up and running though, as they have been one of the best teams in the division since Unai Emery's arrival. Villa finished fourth last season and will compete in the Champions League as a result.

The fixture will be a big one for two players in particular - Amadou Onana and Tim Iroegbunam. The former joined Villa from Everton in the summer, while the latter went in the opposite direction. Both players have enjoyed strong starts to the season.

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But how will Sean Dyche set up the Toffees for this tricky encounter? Joe Thomas and Chris Beesley make their picks below.

Joe Thomas

This is going to be a tough trip, as they often seem to be when Villa Park is the destination. Now, in fairness, Everton were excellent for a long time against Bournemouth. And Villa was a turning point last season when Everton won there in the Carabao Cup. But I do wonder if the performance is as important as the result today - another collapse would take a heavy toll on the club and supporters.

I would continue with Michael Keane at the back, I don't think the defeats so far have been his fault and his experience remains important. If Seamus Coleman loses his fitness battle then I would plump for Ashley Young, just to try to be as solid as possible.

In the middle I would start Abdoulaye Doucoure alongside Idrissa Gueye in the hope of providing a solid base from which Iliman Ndiaye can operate in front of to ensure Dominic Calvert-Lewin does not get too isolated. Ndiaye has to start for me.

My team (4-4-1-1): Pickford; Mykolenko, Tarkowski, Keane, Young; McNeil, Gueye, Doucoure, Harrison; Ndiaye, Calvert-Lewin

Chris Beesley

Having endured a shocking, late collapse against Bournemouth last time out and a 4-0 thrashing in their most recent away game, the hope for an Everton side that have shipped 10 goals in their opening three Premier League fixtures as they return to the scene of another 4-0 shellacking last term would be that defensive reinforcements are on the horizon. In 2023/24, only runners-up Arsenal kept more clean sheets than the Blues but that solidity at the back has not been there in the current campaign so far.

Therefore, wouldn’t it be great if Jarrad Branthwaite and Nathan Patterson were now both fit enough to slot into the back for at Villa Park but unless Sean Dyche has a couple of aces up his sleeve, the Everton manager has always maintained that the pair – neither of whom have kicked a ball so far in 2024/25 – were unlikely to be back for this one. The Blues’ woes at the back have also been compounded by captain Seamus Coleman limping out of the Republic of Ireland’s 2-0 home defeat to England in the UEFA Nations League game in Dublin a week ago so with the skipper set to miss out on the trip to the West Midlands, right-back becomes an area of concern again.

Everton’s oldest ever outfield player Ashley Young, 39, started the season in that position but got horribly caught out against jet-heeled Brighton & Hove Albion wide man Kaoru Mitoma and was sent off for a professional foul when dragging down the Japanese international in a 3-0 reversal. With the veteran suspended for the visit to Tottenham Hotspur, teenager Roman Dixon came in for his debut and while the rookie – some two decades Young’s junior – coped well in front of a crowd of over 60,000 in north London, his team still fell to a 4-0 defeat.

Therefore, I’d be tempted to turn to yet another fresh option in the problem position and move midfielder James Garner, on the bench against Bournemouth having returned against Doncaster Rovers in the Carabao Cup, to right-back. It’s a strategy that my colleague Joe Thomas has often advocated but while I’ve always had my doubts, especially long-term, given that the Birkenhead-born player prefers to operate in the engine room, needs must and it’s perhaps another indication that Everton should have prioritised the position this summer with wantaway Newcastle United star Kieran Trippier, who can also fill in at left-back, looking distinctly like the one that got away from the Blues late in the window.

My team (4-5-1): Pickford; Garner, Mykolenko, Tarkowski, Keane; Gueye, Iroegbunam, Harrison, McNeil, Ndiaye; Calvert-Lewin.