Despite having some of the fiercest world class attacking talents in the line-up that played against Slovakian side Ružomberok in the first leg of the Europa League qualifying round, Everton needed the help of a deflected shot from full-back Leighton Baines to get home a one-goal advantage.
While many have completely disregarded it as an early glitch to what is expected to be a historic season for the Merseyside club, there will always be the fear of an epic failure at the back of Ronald Koeman’s mind. To everyone’s surprise, Everton could hardly see their free-flowing football going at Goodison Park, which fans had witnessed in their pre-season games.
The Toffees visit MFK Ružomberok this Friday for the second leg to play a side who have lost three of their last four UEFA home games. While on paper Everton remain favourites, so were Rangers FC a few weeks back.
Predicted 4-2-3-1 Everton Line-up against Ružomberok
Defence
We expect a largely unchanged side this time too, although Koeman now has more knowledge of his opponents and could experiment with a few things.
The position under the bar is expected to be taken by Jordan Pickford once again. The former Sunderland shot stopper was in all probability their buy of the season and though his brilliant ball distribution hasn’t worked well with Wayne Rooney yet, this could just be the game.
The back line should remain same following their assuring display in the first leg. The flank should be taken by Leighton Baines and Cuco Martina. The English full-back is perhaps Everton’s most experienced player in the squad now and in an away game like this, his presence could come instrumental.
The central defensive duo is expected to be Michael Keane and Ashley Williams. They had an easy game last leg as Ružomberok hardly tested them, but things are expected to change this time.
Midfield
This area needs more playing time and experimenting as was witnessed last game. The three-man midfield hadn’t sorted out their duties properly and Koeman seems to be facing similar problems that Jose Mourinho faced last season after the arrival of Paul Pogba.
Having the likes of Idrissa Gueye and Davy Klassen should terrorize opponent’s defence, but they seemed to hold back their full force. Morgan Schneiderlin did a disciplined job as the anchorman and Koeman would expect them to be better this time.
Attack
Kevin Mirallas remains a trusted general for Koeman on the left-hand side, but he has failed to provide anything new in his game. Though we expect Koeman to stick with him at a crucial away fixture, the Belgian could see lesser game time in the league. Though Dominic Calvert-Lewin started on the right flank last game, we expect Sandro Ramirez to replace him this time right from the start.
Wayne Rooney will continue to take his spearheading role up front.
