Everton manager Sean Dyche has an untimely defensive crisis to work around for Saturday's Premier League showdown with Tottenham Hotspur in the capital.
The Toffees were humbled 3-0 at home by Brighton & Hove Albion on matchday one of the 2024-25 season, where Ashley Young was given a straight red card for a last-man foul.
The veteran defender therefore has a one-game ban to serve this weekend, decimating Dyche's rearguard ranks further, as fellow full-back Nathan Patterson is also out with a thigh complaint.
As both Seamus Coleman and James Garner are on the mend from calf concerns, Mason Holgate may be thrown into the Everton backline in North London, joining mainstays Vitaliy Mykolenko and Jordan Pickford.
Jarrad Branthwaite will not be involved due to his recent groin operation, and James Tarkowski is also a fresh doubt with an unspecified issue, so Jake O'Brien should now come in for his full debut alongside Michael Keane.
Jesper Lindstrom is another summer arrival bidding to make his Premier League debut, but he may be kept in reserve as Idrissa Gueye, Tim Iroegbunam and Abdoulaye Doucoure link up in the middle of the park again.
All of Jack Harrison, Dwight McNeil and Dominic Calvert-Lewin proved ineffective last time out, but the trio should retain their spots up front as Iliman Ndiaye and Beto try to make an impact from the bench.
Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Holgate, O'Brien, Keane, Mykolenko; Harrison, Iroegbunam, Doucoure, Gueye, McNeil; Calvert-Lewin
> Click here to see how Tottenham could line up for this clash
Ben Knapton
