🏏 Sat, 10 Jan 2026 12:15 GMT
Everton
vs
Sunderland AFC
Positions estimated vs 4-2-3-1 ※ estimated
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- The tie's sharpest subplot stands in the Everton goal. Jordan Pickford, 31, came through Sunderland's academy and had loan spells at Preston North End, Bradford City and Burton Albion before establishing himself on Wearside. Facing his former club, the England goalkeeper brings both his reflexes and the left-footed distribution that lets him start attacks from deep.
- Sunderland line up in a 4-2-3-1 with Granit Xhaka, 33, and Noah Sadiki, 21, screening the back four. Xhaka is the Switzerland captain who won the Premier League with Arsenal and the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen, and he still strikes the ball ferociously with his left foot. Sadiki, at Anderlecht from the age of six, is a central midfielder capable of filling in at full-back who carries the ball forward well.
- Everton counter with height and legs in central midfield. James Garner, 24, is a Manchester United academy product whose long passing and set-piece delivery are his calling cards. Beside him is Merlin Röhl, 23, a 192cm German on loan from SC Freiburg with a conditional purchase clause attached. Whoever wins the second balls against Xhaka will set the tempo.
- Tyler Dibling is the headline act on Everton's right. The 19-year-old arrived from Southampton for a club-record fee after racking up 20 Premier League appearances while still a teenager, and he is left-footed despite starting from the right. Marking him is Dennis Cirkin, 23, a Tottenham academy graduate at left-back whose pace makes this the most obvious one-v-one of the afternoon.
- The opposite flank offers an equally sharp duel. Simon Adingra, 24, is on loan from Brighton and was named best young player at the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast, cutting in from the right on his left foot. Vitaliy Mykolenko, 26, the Ukraine international who came through Dynamo Kyiv, combines stubborn defending with reliable left-footed crossing.
- Dwight McNeil attacks from Everton's left. The 26-year-old made his name at Burnley and remains the squad's most accurate crosser and set-piece taker. Opposite him is Trai Hume, 23, a right-back with 22 caps for Northern Ireland who has committed to Sunderland until 2030 and prides himself on his one-v-one defending.
- Beto leads Everton's line at 194cm. The 27-year-old climbed from the Portuguese lower leagues, where he worked a fast-food job, all the way to Serie A with Udinese, and he overpowers defenders in the air and with his back to goal. Sunderland's centre-back Luke O'Nien is only 174cm and a converted midfielder, so 187cm Nordi Mukiele, formerly of PSG and RB Leipzig, may have to shoulder the aerial duties.
- Everton's bench is stocked with young talent. Thierno Barry, 23, is a 195cm striker with genuine pace who scored 11 La Liga goals for Villarreal. Adam Aznou, 19, is a Morocco international left-back schooled at Barcelona's La Masia who arrived via Bayern Munich. Braden Graham, 18, came from Linfield — the same Northern Irish club as Sunderland's Hume — having become their youngest ever player at 15 years and 137 days.
- Sunderland's substitutes carry real weight too. Brian Brobbey, 23, scored 56 goals in 163 games for Ajax before a €20m move, while Wilson Isidor, 25, has played for Monaco and Zenit and was central to the club's promotion. If the visitors need to protect a position, Arsenal academy graduate Dan Ballard, 26 and 187cm, offers aerial authority and the nerve of a defender who settled a Championship play-off final with the winning goal.