Iliman Ndiaye question for David Moyes as Everton man could lose place

A look at the potential changes to the starting 11 that David Moyes could make for Everton's game with Arsenal

Less than 63 hours after the final whistle at Anfield where they played their most-intensive fixture of the season by facing table-topping neighbours Liverpool in the Merseyside Derby, Everton will be kicking off against the Premier League’s second-placed side at 12:30pm on Saturday when they host Arsenal.

It’s a short turnaround in terms of recovery time and Everton should have every reason to curse the fixture schedulers for such a kick-off time.

But don’t expect much sympathy for David Moyes’ men from the wider football world, even if Kopites will now be willing their neighbours to do them a favour. Given that the Blues are now facing another leading light so soon after what will have been an energy-sapping final trip across Stanley Park, could their manager be tempted to shuffle his pack?

Top scorer Iliman Ndiaye hadn’t featured for seven weeks since hobbling out of the previous derby at Goodison Park in tears with a knee injury.

However, after making his comeback as a 69th-minute substitute against Liverpool, the Senegal international will hopefully be pushing for a starting berth.

Given that the £15million signing from Olympique Marseille has been mostly deployed on the left wing, Carlos Alcaraz would be the incumbent player to drop out if Ndiaye returned, but given that he replaced Jack Harrison at Anfield and Jesper Lindstrom missed the match through a groin injury, there could also be scope for either of the pair to potentially move to the right flank.

Another left-sided player pushing for a return is Dwight McNeil who hasn’t kicked a ball for Everton since the 4-0 thrashing of Wolverhampton Wanderers some four months ago.

The Rochdale-born player was not involved in Moyes’ squad at Anfield, but he had been photographed in training at Finch Farm alongside his team-mates in the build-up to the game. After enjoying a purple patch of scoring five goals in four Premier League games, up front, Beto has failed to find the net in his last four outings.

The Guinea-Bissau international had an effort ruled out for offside in front of the Kop before hitting the post with an inviting opportunity. Now that Moyes has Armando Broja and Youssef Chermiti both back fit, he has alternative options but are they showing enough?

Neither is yet to break their duck in the scoring stakes. Further back, Tim Iroegbunam came off the bench for the eighth straight match against Liverpool.

If the manager wants to freshen things up in the engine room then the 21-year-old, who hasn’t started a game since the 3-2 loss at his previous club Aston Villa back on September 21, could be an option, coming in for the likes of James Garner, Idrissa Gueye or even Abdoulaye Doucoure.