Allardyce must unleash rarely-seen Everton player v Liverpool, he can be Merseyside wild card
COMMENT
After losing to Manchester City on Saturday, Everton's schedule is determined to not give them a chance to bounce back to winning ways without a fight as they prepare for a Merseyside derby showdown with Liverpool at Goodison Park next weekend.
Sam Allardyce will surely have to make changes after a less-than-inspiring performance against Pep Guardiola's champions-elect and one of those changes the Everton manager must make is to unleash the rarely-seen Nikola Vlasic.
The 20-year-old attacker has barely got a look in since Allardyce arrived at Goodison Park and it's about time that the Croatia Under-21 international got a chance to show that he was a quality signing last summer.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp will know very little about Vlasic, who would be absolutely fearless heading into the Merseyside derby as Everton's wild card.
The former Hajduk Split attacker was on the bench for the defeat to Man City after missing out on the last seven matchday squads in the Premier League so it's clear that Allardyce is beginning to toy with the idea of playing the 20-year-old in a way to finally get fans off their seats.
Vlasic's only real chances at Everton have come in the Europa League and he was very impressive in those outings, netting two goals and supplying one assist in the group stage.
Considering how poorly the Toffees played in Europe, those stats prove that Vlasic is worth gambling on to play in the big Merseyside derby this weekend and Allardyce will no doubt look to lead his side to an unlikely victory.