Everton v Wolves - Match preview

Matheus Nunes, subject of a bid from Manchester City would have been in line to start at Goodison Park tomorrow had he not been sent off against Brighton, and his suspension could offer O’Neil the perfect opportunity to switch his formation but still be aggressive.

Craig Dawson and Max Kilman were caught out time and again against Brighton and adding Toti Gomes to the starting XI and changing to a back five, could be beneficial.

Toti’s athleticism and speed will aid the defence with any balls in behind, while he will also offer more stability with aerial duels against an Everton side that will likely rely on set pieces and their aerial threat.

Playing a back five does not need to be a defensive game plan, however, as Matt Doherty and Rayan Ait-Nouri would be the perfect wing-backs in that system to give Wolves more width and attacking threat.

Mario Lemina and Joao Gomes still deserve to keep their places in midfield, and while Pablo Sarabia could be an option to play as a number 10 in this system, Wolves could benefit from bringing Boubacar Traore in.

Against an athletic Toffees midfield of Idrissa Gueye, Amadou Onana and Abdoulaye Doucoure, Traore could be the ideal midfielder to add further physical strength to Wolves’ engine room.

On top of that, Traore is superb at winning the ball high up the field and if Wolves still want to be aggressive, he has the ability to regain possession and carry the ball forward.

Matheus Cunha is almost certain to start up front and in this formation, he would need a striking partner. Fabio Silva still has plenty of promise but did not take his chance against Brighton, while Sasa Kalajdzic is an exciting option that still needs time to get up to speed.

Hwang Hee-chan is seen more as a wide left option, but he can play centrally and after his positive display against Brighton, deserves the chance to replace Nunes against Everton.

This system and formation has the potential to keep Wolves tight at the back but free in attack, and could allow O’Neil to retain his front foot approach.

O’Neil said: “I prefer to be aggressive. That’s my preference. But obviously I don’t want to give up as many chances.

“But that’s not just a result of being aggressive. There are a lot of details that I need to put into the players to understand small things in certain situations that we’ve been working hard on but not for long enough yet.

“We will try to be aggressive when we can but I’m obviously sensible to recognise if you keep going in on things and the group are suffering you have to have different plans available.

“We’ll be flexible but let’s try to keep creating the number of chances we have, shore ourselves up a little bit and try to be more clinical.

“I understand the situation and will work very hard.”