Everton predicted line-up vs. Burnley: Three changes made with bargain signing among key players out

Everton will hope to continue their perfect run in December when they make the trip up to Turf Moor on Saturday evening for the late Premier League kick-off – with Sean Dyche set for his first match against Burnley since leaving the club at which he made his name as a manager.

The Toffees have won three on the row in the league without conceding a single goal, with Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United and Chelsea all beaten in impressive style, but they will have to get by without at least two important players against Vincent Kompany’s side this weekend – although the home side have some injury issues of their own to deal with.

We’ve brought together all the latest team news and injury updates below, and hazarded our best guess at Dyche’s starting XI for a game which will have a great deal of personal significance for the Everton head coach.

Goalkeeper & Defence

Since he was first named in the startling line-up against Wolverhampton Wanderers back in August, towering young centre-half Jarrad Branthwaite hasn’t missed a single minute – but he will be absent this weekend as he faces a one-match suspension for collecting five bookings. Either Michael Keane or Ben Godfrey will partner James Tarkowski at centre-back, with Dyche confirming that Keane is fit after a minor knock suffered in training.

Ashley Young is only one yellow card away from facing the same fate, but Dyche has confirmed that he won't be available this weekend anyway – the 38-year-old picked up a muscle strain against Chelsea last weekend and isn't fully fit. Everton’s other veteran full-back, Seamus Coleman, is the only other absentee as he’s carrying a knock, although he has only made one appearance in the top flight this season anyway.

Midfield

Holding midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye will certainly miss out this weekend, as he too has collected five bookings after seeing yellow in the win over Chelsea, and as such the Senegalese international will be suspended until next week’s game against Tottenham Hotspur.

Abdoulaye Doucouré is on four yellows for the season himself, and will miss a match once he gets on the wrong side of the referee again, but until then should be ready to continue his unbroken streak of Premier League starts. Amadou Onana, who hasn’t played a full 90 minutes since the win over West Ham United at the end of October, is expected to be fully fit once more.

Everton don’t have any further injury concerns outside of defence, happily, and the only players likely to be absent at Turf Moor are André Gomes and Dele Alli, both of whom haven’t yet featured this season. The good news is that Dele, who spoke candidly about his struggles with mental health issues and an addiction to sleeping pills over the summer, has returned to first-team training, although he isn’t likely to be named in the squad for some time yet.

Forwards

Everton have a clean bill of health up front, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin likely to start for the third game in succession as he looks to put a torrid time with injuries behind him and rediscover his best form – he has generated an xG of 2.88 in his last three games without finding the back of the net, but hopefully a good display in East Lancashire will help to get his confidence and scoring touch back.

The home side do have issues in the final third, with Luca Koleosho likely to miss the rest of the season after sustaining a serious knee injury against Wolves in last week’s midweek games, while joint top-scorer Lyle Foster, who has missed the last seven league games with injury, is now a doubt with an illness.

Full predicted line-up vs. Burnley

Pickford; Mykolenko, Keane, Tarkowski, Patterson; McNeil, Garner, Onana, Doucouré, Harrison; Calvert-Lewin