QPR v Everton: The five Toffees’ fringe players who could line up against the Hoops in the Carabao Cup
Queens Park Rangers will face Premier League side Everton in the Carabao Cup tonight.
The Toffees’ 3-0 loss at Aston Villa on Saturday was their first of the campaign, with Rafa Benitez otherwise making a fine start to life as manager.
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Hide AdThe Goodison Park chief could be tempted to make several changes for the trip to their Championship outfit.
Queens Park Rangers and Mark Warburton will be hoping they can make the most of an under strength Everton line up.
Our sister site LiverpoolWorld gives us the lowdown on the five players who Benitez could pick.
Ellis Simms
With Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison both injured for at least the next couple of weeks, Benitez may not want to risk his only senior fit striker in Salomon Rondon.
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Hide AdThat's why the Everton boss could be tempted to hand Simms a debut.
The 19-year-old enjoyed a prolific spell on loan at Blackpool during the second half of last season. Simms plundered 10 goals in 24 games to help the Seasiders achieve League One promotion via the play-offs.
The England under-20 international missed pre-season with a hamstring injury but was named on the bench against Villa.
Simms will be hoping to play some sort of role at Loftus Road and try to take his chance.
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Hide AdAnthony Gordon
The 20-year-old forward came up against QPR last season while on loan at Preston. The game ended a goalless draw.
After making 11 outings at Deepdale, Gordon returned to Goodison in the summer and Benitez opted not to send him out again to garner more senior experience.
Gordon has made just two substitute appearances for the Toffees so far this term. The latest arrived for the final nine minutes at Villa when the game was already beyond reach.
With Demarai Gray and Andros Townsend both starting the campaign superbly, Gordon's had few opportunities to show what he's capable of.
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Hide AdA strong display against the Londoners would give his manager something to ponder.
Tom Davies
The academy graduate's Goodison Park career has somewhat stagnated.
With Abdoulaye Doucoure and Allan firmly first choice in a two-man midfield, Davies has been confined to a bit-part role so far this season.
The 23-year-old made only his first Premier League outing as a substitute at Villa.
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Hide AdDavies' only other match arrived in the 2-1 defeat of Huddersfield, in which he did do well.
After reportedly being made available for transfer in the summer, Davies needs a repeat performance of the one against the Terriers.
Jonjoe Kenny
Despite Seamus Coleman being absent against Villa, Benitez opted to play Ben Godfrey as a makeshift right-back over Kenny.
Godfrey struggled, though, and Kenny came on for the final 10 minutes of the game.
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Hide AdThe 24-year-old was surplus to requirements in the summer but no suitors looked to sign him. He also spent the second half of last term on loan at Celtic.
Kenny has a big chance now, though, with Coleman on the sidelines for another two weeks.
Andre Gomes
The Portuguese is in a similar situation as Davies, although he has featured slightly more.
Gomes has played four times so far this season and caught the eye when coming on against Huddersfield to help Everton coming from behind .
The ex-Barcelona midfielder also made an excellent impact in last week's 3-1 victory over Burnley.
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