Sean Dyche had a near-perfect day as Everton

Sean Dyche was absent. Everton beat Aston Villa thanks to Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Beto.
Sean Dyche had a near-perfect evening as Everton defeated Aston Villa 2-1 on Wednesday (27 September) to advance to the fourth round of the EFL Cup.

The Toffees made it back-to-back wins with goals from James Garner and Dominic Calvert-Lewin at Villa Park, with Boubacar Kamara’s 83rd-minute effort not enough to ignite a comeback from the hosts.

However, there was one option that the Toffees’ manager passed up, regarding the employment of attackers Calvert-Lewin and Beto.

Dyche cleverly exploited his depleted squad to excellent use, switching to a back five to rest some of his regulars and picking for debutants Jack Harrison and Arnaut Danjuma as the lone striker Calvert-Lewin’s supporting forwards.

Dyche admitted after the game that he had considered playing two forwards against the Villans, according to the Liverpool Echo (28 September).

“My staff have done brilliantly as well because they were thinking about this formation and ‘should we, shouldn’t we’, because we were also looking at playing the two strikers,” he stated.

“So you take the risk and the reward scenario of changing it over a two-day period and getting a very good performance and a very good win, so that is pleasing from the point of view of the staff and players,” the player said.

There is no reason to criticize Dyche, especially after Everton gained another fantastic win that will boost their confidence going forward.

However, there is a belief that this game would have been a fantastic opportunity to assess how Calvert-Lewin and summer signing Beto would perform as a partnership.

It wouldn’t even have had to have been as part of the starting lineup. Beto came in to replace Calvert-Lewin in the 72nd minute; perhaps the Portuguese striker could have entered the action a little sooner and played some minutes with Calvert-Lewin.

Calvert-Lewin recently told Everton’s official website (September 25) that he wants to play with Beto.

“He has a physical presence, and I’ve had a great time training with him.” “We’ve had a few conversations about us being on the pitch at the same time, how that will look, and how we can make that work,” Calvert-Lewin explained.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had someone as physically strong as myself up there at the top of the pitch, sharing the workload.” I’ve had to be a battering ram a lot of the time, which takes away from other aspects of your game.”

This appears to be a combination Dyche will attempt at some point, and he ultimately won against Villa. Wouldn’t it have been lovely to watch Calvert-Lewin and Beto spend some time together?

In other Everton news, a team news update has been issued ahead of the Luton match, with four players expected to miss out.