TEAM NEWSRonald Koeman has confirmed that Dominic Calvert-Lewin will miss Saturday’s FA Cup tie against Leicester City and is expected be sidelined for around “seven to eight weeks” with the ankle injury sustained in the 3-0 victory Southampton on Monday.
Aaron Lennon is also a doubt the for the third-round clash, while Maarten Stekelenburg [dead leg] and James McCarthy [hamstring] remain sidelined.
New signing Ademola Lookman, whose arrival at Goodison Park was announced on Thursday afternoon, is cup tied for the meeting with the Foxes.
For the Foxes, they could hand a debut to their January arrival, midfielder Wilfred Ndidi.
Claudio Ranieri will be without Riyad Mahrez and club record signing Islam Slimani who have both travelled to the Africa Cup of Nations with Algeria.
Jamie Vardy, however, returns from the suspension that saw him miss the recent league game between the sides.
FORMEverton manager Koeman declared himself satisfied with his side’s festive haul that saw the take seven points from a possible nine.
The Blues defeated Leicester at the King Power stadium on Boxing Day thanks to goals from Belgian duo Kevin Mirallas and Romelu Lukaku, before taking a point back from their trip to Hull City.
That was then followed up with a 3-0 success back at Goodison over Southampton, with Enner Valencia bagging his first goal for the Toffees.
The Foxes, meanwhile, took four points from their three games across the festive period. Having lost to Everton, Ranieri’s side bounced back to defeat fellow bottom half outfit West Ham 1-0 courtesy of an Islam Slimani goal.
City also took a point when they played out a 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough at the Riverside.
KEY MAN – Shinji Okazaki
With Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimani away on international duty with Algeria for the next few weeks, Leicester’s attacking play will almost certainly flow through Japan international Okazaki.
Combining work rate with guile and skilful link-play, the former Mainz and Stuttgart forward has been an underrated component of a Foxes attack that saw them lift the Premier League last season.
He may not score the goals of a Mahrez or a Jamie Vardy – he has five in 22 appearances so far after netting six times last season – but he is the perfect foil for Leicester’s leading striker.
MAN IN THE MIDDLE – Martin Atkinson
Having overseen Everton’s opening Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur, Martin Atkinson is back at Goodison Park for this third round FA Cup tie.
In his 18 games to date, he has dished out 80 yellow cards and one red – to West Ham’s Aaron Cresswell back in October.
Atkinson has also officiated in Europe, taking charge of Belgium’s World Cup qualifier with Bosnia and a pair of Champions League ties between PSV and Athletico Madrid, and Ludogorets and Basle.
His previous visit to Goodison was November’s 1-1 draw with Swansea City.
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