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Everton take on Sunderland in the Third Round of the Carabao Cup later today and both sides are likely to ring in the changes with more important upcoming fixtures in mind.
The Blues are in a terrible slump right now and though manager Ronald Koeman will want to give his senior players a break, the need for a positive result might see him doing some chopping and changing.
With no new injuries to report, Koeman might chose to give Maarten Stekelenburg another go after the Atalanta loss that he could do little about. Also in defence, Mason Holgate could come back into the squad. In addition, since Jonjoe Kenny decided to get rid of his Harry Potter tickets for tonight (tweet now deleted), hopefully this means we finally get to see him patrol the right side of the backline.
Davy Klaassen and Muhamed Besic are very likely to come back into the squad after not featuring over the weekend. Fans will also be waiting with bated breath to see if Ademola Lookman and Oumar Niasse finally get a look-in after also being omitted from the Under-23 squad that played on Monday.
For Sunderland who are in a miserable run of poor form themselves, manager Simon Grayson will also make plenty of changes in a bid for self-preservation.
The Black Cats have only one fit striker in (former Evertonian) James Vaughan, and with games on Saturday, Tuesday and Saturday coming up. It’s possible that Sunderland will go with a conservative 5-3-1-1, as proposed by the knowledgeable Roker Report, with Joel Asoro and Lynden Gooch up top.
Also likely to play will be former Blue Darron Gibson, who has only seen 18 minutes of action in the Championship this season but played in the two previous rounds of the Carabao Cup.
Toffees on loan Tyias Browning and Brendan Galloway are not eligible to play per the terms of the deal that saw them move to Sunderland for the season. Jack Rodwell and Bryan Oviedo are also likely to play, rounding out the former Evertonians in the side.