Everton manager David Moyes may have to make a change at left-back for Sunday's trip to newly promoted Hull City if Vitalii Mykolenko is ruled out. Mykolenko has played the full 90 minutes in all seven of Everton's matches in all competitions this season, helping the Blues make an unbeaten start to the 2026/27 campaign. However, after featuring in Ukraine's 1-0 win in Hungary on September 25, winning his 55th cap, the 27-year-old has been sidelined for their subsequent three internationals.
Moyes sweating on Mykolenko fitness
Moyes is now sweating on the fitness of his only recognised left-back for the match at MKM Stadium. If Mykolenko isn't fit enough to feature in East Yorkshire, members of the ECHO sportsdesk have had their say on who should replace him.
Chris Beesley recalls that on January 31 this year, when Moyes first had all four of his centre-backs available, he started with the full quartet for the game at Brighton & Hove Albion, with Mykolenko unavailable. In opposition boss Fabian Hurzeler's native Germany, they have a phrase for a defence of four centre-backs – Viererketter aus Innenverteidgern – a big term for a big set of players, as central defenders James Tarkowski and Michael Keane were shorter than both the full-backs, Jake O'Brien on the right and Jarrad Branthwaite deployed on the left.
Branthwaite or Garner at left-back?
There is no doubting that Branthwaite is a good enough footballer to play left-back, but even though he is now getting to a point where Moyes can trust him to play more than once a week, Beesley would rather not have someone who was restricted to just 10 matches last season because of repeated hamstring problems threatening to stretch them again by bombing up and down the wing. Therefore, providing both men come back unscathed from the last of England's four internationals over this break, against Czechia last night, he would much rather deploy James Garner in the role.
Despite being right-footed, Garner, who ultimately became Everton's Player of the Season, started 2025/26 there and didn't let anybody down. He even scored a goal while playing left-back in the 2-0 home win over Brighton & Hove Albion in the Blues' first competitive fixture at Hill Dickinson Stadium. With Christian Norgaard fit again, the central midfield area is again congested with Harrison Armstrong and Hayden Hackney also vying for starting berths, so if Mykolenko is ruled out, Garner appears a more sensible choice to fill in.
Paul Wheelock agrees, noting there are two injuries Everton don't need before January – at left-back and up front. Thierno Barry is carrying the burden of being the Blues' sole centre-forward well, with five goals in seven games, but Mykolenko is having just as impressive a start to the season on the quiet. Hopefully, the injury that saw him miss Ukraine's final three matches of the international break is not serious and he will take his place in an unchanged defensive line-up at Hull City on Sunday.
If he isn't, Wheelock says the one move Everton shouldn't contemplate is shifting Branthwaite to left-back. The Blues have kept five clean sheets in seven matches with Branthwaite back fit and back alongside club captain James Tarkowski at the heart of the defence. Instead, he would move Garner to full-back – but not to left-back, where he did feature for a short period in England's 7-0 demolition of Croatia at the weekend. Instead, he would shift Ainsley Maitland-Niles across to the left and play Garner at right-back.
The fully fit Norgaard could then come into the midfield as a No.6, giving Harrison Armstrong and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall license to push forward. But, as Wheelock said, he is hoping come 12.45pm on Sunday, when the team news drops, that Norgaard will be among the substitutes, as that will likely mean Mykolenko is starting.
