Wolfsburg vs. Everton: How the Toffees Should Line Up in Europa League Game

Roberto Martinez faces a difficult dilemma ahead of Everton's trip to Wolfsburg: exactly how strong a side to select at the Volkswagen Arena.

The Toffees top the group on eight points, one ahead of the German side, but—crucially—five points clear of third-placed Lille.

Everton's Premier League record is poor on the back of a European tie. With qualification so nearly assured, and a key game away at Tottenham on Sunday, the Catalan will be seriously tempted to shuffle his pack.

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At the same time, losing in Germany would all but surrender top spot and a supposedly kinder fixture in the knock-out rounds.

Martinez's side won their first and only ever tie with Wolfsburg 4-1, though Tim Howard was especially busy that night, facing 27 shots.

Dieter Hecking's side are much improved after a slow start to the season and will pose a far greater threat in this fixture. Defeat this past weekend ended a storming run of eight-straight wins in all competitions, taking them to second in the Bundesliga.

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Team News

A reason for any potentional rotation is the amount of knocks in Martinez's squad.

Leighton Baines, Steven Pienaar, Aiden McGeady, Gareth Barry and Darron Gibson all missed Saturday's win over West Ham, joining Arouna Kone, Antolin Alcaraz, John Stones and Bryan Oviedo on the injury list. Steven Naismith was also substituted due to injury.

James McCarthy and Seamus Coleman overcame their previous injury complaints to play, as did Kevin Mirallas, but Martinez must be tempted to leave all three out of this trip.

Therefore, the status of at least 11 players is either unavailable or, at best, unclear. Many of these players missed the trip to Wolfsburg:

The fact that just 20 players (including three goalkeepers) made the journey, as well as several inexperienced faces, suggests there will be some rotation.

Selection

With this team news and motives considered, this is an XI Martinez would be wise to select:

B/R Tactics Board

With numbers so low, Everton must be cautious ahead of this game. Though Martinez will know the exact fitness levels of McCarthy, Coleman and Mirallas, starting all three seems a risk here, given their recent injuries.

Tim Howard will presumably start in goal. Martinez appears to have dropped his rotation policy among goalkeepers, playing the American in every game this season.

He should be joined at the back by Sylvain Distin and Phil Jagielka, with few options elsewhere. That at least provides a strong base for the visitors.

Martinez should then use Hibbert at his preferred position of right-back, resting Coleman, and hand a rare start to Luke Garbutt in Baines' absence.

Further forward, Muhamed Besic can come in and fill McCarthy's position, alongside Saturday's Man of the Match, Leon Osman. If Osman's not up to another 90 minutes, Ross Barkley must be considered in a deeper berth.

With Naismith out, Samuel Eto'o should then be recalled, and Martinez will also want to start either McGeady or Christian Atsu over Mirallas, as the Belgium international continues his comeback. McGeady should be first-choice here, if the winger is fully fit.

That leaves Romelu Lukaku to lead the line in search of his first European goal for the club.

Statistics via WhoScored.com.

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