Why Carlos Alcaraz must start against Manchester City | OneFootball

Ahead of the return of Premier League action following the second international break of the season, Everton will make the short trip up the M62 to the Etihad Stadium to face a resurgent Manchester City side.

​The Toffees ended the previous period of games before the international break in dramatic fashion, scoring a late winner to end Crystal Palace’s 19-game unbeaten run with a 2-1 victory at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

However, the match winner on that day, Jack Grealish, will be unavailable for this weekend’s clash against the eight-time Premier League champions due to the rule that prohibits loan players from facing their parent clubs.

​So for the first time this season, David Moyes’ side will have to face the challenge of playing without their new star signing.

In his absence, Carlos Alcaraz is the perfect fit to come into the starting XI and make an impact from the get-go.

​Going into the weekend, you would expect another of Everton’s summer signings, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, to come straight back into the side, having unfortunately missed out through suspension against Crystal Palace after picking up five yellow cards inside the first six league games of the season.

​A player who did come into the starting side against The Eagles due to ‘KDH’s’ absence was another summer signing in the shape of Tyler Dibling, with the 19-year-old making his first Premier League start for the club. However, after a seemingly indifferent first-half performance, the teenager was subbed off after 45 minutes and replaced by Alcaraz.

​Now, many supporters would argue that Moyes hasn’t exactly been the most proactive with his substitutions so far this season, despite having arguably the strongest bench he’s had across both his spells at Everton. However, against Crystal Palace, he made three subs that changed the game. In particular, the one that stood out the most was Alcaraz.

​Alcaraz joined Everton back in January on loan before the move became permanent shortly after the 2024/25 campaign concluded. Having started the Toffees’ league opener against Leeds United, game time in the Premier League has been limited for the 22-year-old, with only 32 minutes played across three substitute appearances prior to the Palace game.

​Despite not registering a goal or assist against the Eagles, or in the Premier League this season so far, some key stats to take away from the Argentinian's 45-minute cameo included a total of two shots (one on target, one big chance missed), one key pass, 78% (18/23) passing accuracy with 21 of those passes being made in the opposition half and a total of two tackles made.

​Overall, Alcaraz proved to be a real handful for a very well-organised Crystal Palace side on the day, which also saw him play a key role in the build-up to Everton’s match-winner, scored by Grealish.

Despite his natural position just behind the lone striker, Alcaraz did play off the right against Palace and performed just as well, if not better. That versatility and willingness to shine in David Moyes’ side is something the manager may well consider going into this weekend’s game against ‘The Citizens’.

Alcaraz is completely ineffective when asked to play in a wider position and looks positively poor on the right.

He’s a central attacking midfielder, a ‘10’. To replace Grealish we need to bring in a wide man. We also need to utilise subs effectively before players tire, this will be especially true against City as we won’t see much of the ball.

One of Dibling or McNeil should start out wide and the other should replace them. One of Dewsbury-Hall or Alcaraz should start in the middle and the other should replace them.