Everton travel to the bet365 Stadium this evening to face Stoke City in the third fixture of their pre-season campaign, kicking off at 7:45pm.
David Moyes will be looking for a reaction after a goalless draw at Bolton over the weekend left some fans frustrated at a lack of creativity and intensity, following an opening 4-0 win over Dundee.
Jarrad Branthwaite, who made his first appearance of pre-season at Bolton, is expected to be rested at Stoke as Everton manage his return carefully, with Michael Keane in line to deputise.
Tyler Dibling and Hayden Hackney, both absent from the Bolton squad, are set to be involved in midweek — Hackney in line for his first pre-season minutes after recovering from a knock picked up at the end of last season.
A predicted (guessed) Everton XI reads: Travers; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko; Rohl, Armstrong, Iroegbunam, Dewsbury-Hall, George; Beto.
Stoke, who finished 17th in the Championship last season, are gearing up for their own campaign opener against Oldham Athletic in the EFL Cup on 8 August.
The Toffees continue their pre-season build-up ahead of the Premier League opener against Crystal Palace on 22 August with games against Hamburg (a), Stuttgart (9), Newcastle (Murrayfield), and Lille (h).
