Everton line-ups as Youssef Chermiti and Beto decisions made for Luton

Joe Thomas: I can’t believe this has become a game we could potentially enjoy. I spent so much of the early weeks of the season looking at this fixture, dreaming of ticking off (for me) a new ground in the May sunshine with Everton safe. For so long, this looked like it would be a hellish relegation scrap but after the heroics of last week the pressure is off.

Sean Dyche still wants to win and points do still matter - each position up the table is worth millions, remember. But I would like Everton to treat the final games learning what lessons they can for the summer and next season. With that being the case I would start Beto - I think his physicality will be important and giving him more opportunity at this level would be useful. Youssef Chermiti did well last week but I would give him his next chance at home to Sheffield United this season. I hope Dominic Calvert-Lewin is with Everton next season but we know what he can do and how effective he is.

Lewis Dobbin was back for the Under-21s this week and this game might be too early for him to start, so he is another player I’d like to see start next week. I’m quickly realising how few options there actually are, but I would start Joao Virginia to give him more experience tonight. I would like to see Lewis Warrington and Mackenzie Hunt get minutes from the bench too, if the game allows it.

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Injuries at the back also reduce the opportunity to experiment so Ashley Young at left back makes sense, potentially with Ben Godfrey back on the right. Seamus Coleman is an option again but I want to ensure he is fit for next Saturday - the last home game of his current contract. As I have written previously, I would love Everton to offer clarity on that situation in advance, just to ensure that if it was to be his final game he gets the send off he deserves. In the middle I would give Abdoulaye Doucoure a rest and bring in Andre Gomes to give him another game while his future is considered.

My team: Virginia; Godfrey, Branthwaite, Tarkowski, Young; Harrison, Garner, Gomes, Gueye, McNeil; Beto.

Chris Beesley: Thankfully the pressure is off Everton after they secured their Premier League status before heading to Luton Town for what Sky Sports schedulers clearly envisaged was going to be relegation showdown but the Blues still have a job to do.

Everton ensured that the 2024/25 season – their last at Goodison Park – will be in the top flight after a hat-trick of home wins over Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Brentford yet the battle for survival still goes on for others.

Luton Town remain in a dogfight with Nottingham Forest and Burnley and the Blues need to be fair to those sides.

Sean Dyche was clear in the embargo section of his pre-match press conference for the fixture at Kenilworth Road that there has never been any ‘old pals act’ from his team – he’s beaten his previous long-time employers Burnley three times this season and Nottingham Forest, the club where he started his career, twice – and insists his players are going to Kenilworth Road to win.

With that in mind – captain James Tarkowski also insisted that this would be no “jolly” with the flip-flops on and that Everton had a point to prove after the Hatters beat them twice at Goodison Park this term – it would be the same again for me with the only ‘experimentation’ being the continuation of teenage striker Youssef Chermiti spearheading the attack as he gets to grips with Premier League football.

My team: Pickford; Godfrey, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Young; Harrison, Garner, Doucoure, Gueye, McNeil; Chermiti.