Everton take on Crystal Palace this weekend as David Moyes seeks to end the season with a winning run to bring about European football.
The Toffees drew 3-3 on Monday with Manchester City, which was a really frustrating result in the end.
Everton were seconds away from taking three massive points, but Jeremy Doku equalised right at the death.
Who would you be starting up front on Sunday against Crystal Palace? 😬
Do you stick with Beto or reward Barry for Monday's brace? 🤔
It now leaves Everton with a bit of a mountain to climb in terms of securing European football.
But three wins could do it, and Crystal Palace represent an opportunity to get things back on track.
And one man who’ll potentially be giving David Moyes a headache right now is Tim Iroegbunam.
Tim Iroegbunam does not deserve to be dropped vs Crystal Palace
On Monday, Iroegbunam started against City, with Idrissa Gana Gueye dropping out with an injury.
It was actually the first game Gueye had missed since returning from AFCON, which just shows how much Moyes has relied on the veteran.
So Iroegbunam came in alongside James Garner, with Merlin Rohl playing out wide.
And it has to be said, Iroegbunam really did put in a great performance against such top opposition.
Final game data (via Sofascore) shows that Iroegbunam won six tackles in the game, which was the most of any player from either side.
He also won nine duels, which was the most of any Everton player. Only Jeremy Doku won more out of players from both sides.
And his nine defensive actions were bettered only by Abdukodir Khusanov (11) and Michael Keane (10).
Iroegbunam wasn’t especially great on the ball, completing just 12/19 (63%) passes.
But what he did do was provide real tenacity and steel in the midfield in the absence of Gueye, and that is exactly what Moyes would have wanted from him.
His impressive numbers do now raise an interesting debate.
Gueye’s injury is only thought to be minor, so there’s probably a decent chance he’ll recover for the game with Palace.
While Gueye remains a huge player for Moyes, it would be so harsh of the manager to now drop Iroegbunam after such a top showing against City.
But it’s something we know can happen. Earlier in the season we saw Merlin Rohl produce a superb performance against Aston Villa – who were in red-hot form at the time – in January, and Moyes then dropped him.
There’s no way Everton can sell Tim Iroegbunam after the season he’s having! 😡
Lazio are believed to be keen to sign the midfielder 💷
Rohl then did not start another game until against City on Monday.
Hopefully, Iroegbunam won’t suffer a similar fate.
He’s long felt like a player who needs a consistent run in the team, but it’s been difficult for him because of Gueye. It’s also in Moyes’ interests now to take a proper look at him before the summer.
Because Iroegbunam – who had interest from Lazio in January – will only have a year left on his contract, meaning Everton will have to take a decision on him.
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