Super Eagles forward, Alex Iwobi will miss Saturday’s Premier League clash between Everton and Crystal Palace at the Selhurst Park .
The Nigerian international on Thursday signed for the Toffees from London club, Arsenal in a deal worth £35m. He will miss the opening fixture due to the fact that Everton didn’t register him on time for the Palace clash.
Iwobi, who had a handful of goals with Arsenal during his spell with the club, will be hoping to better his goal ratio this season in a bid to maintain a starting shirt.
While Marco Silva has spoken openly about his disappointment of failing to sign a new center-back, the Portuguese has been quick to praise the club’s efficiency in the market when they are attempting to break into the top seven of the standings.
The quality of their additions – the latest of which saw Alex Iwobi join from Arsenal on Thursday – should mean that they make a sustained challenge in and around their target area, but failing to win enough games like the one on Saturday is what has cost the Merseyside outfit in the past.
On the other hand, the beginning of the new season is supposed to be an occasion when all of a club’s star men are on show, but Roy Hodgson has a decision to make regarding his selection of Zaha.
Despite his affinity with Crystal Palace, the wideman has spent the majority of the week envisaging a scenario where he would be representing Everton at Selhurst Park.
Given the club’s failure to significantly improve their forward line, Hodgson must now make the call over whether it is worth risking Zaha in such a game, potentially contemplating whether this is an opportunity to nip some of the negative talk in the bud.
Possible line-up
Crystal Palace XI: Guaita, Van Aanholt, Dann, Kelly, Ward, Meyer, Milivojevic, McArthur, Townsend, Ayew, Benteke
Everton XI: Pickford, Coleman, Keane, Mina, Digne, Gomes, Delph, Richarlison, Sigurdsson, Bernard, Calvert-Lewin
