Here’s the latest on Everton as they get ready to face Brentford at Hill Dickinson Stadium this Sunday.

David Moyes gave an injury update before the match. Everton want to start 2026 on a high, especially after their solid 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest. That game wasn’t easy—the squad was pretty stretched, but they pulled through, with James Garner and Thierno Barry both finding the net.

Charly Alcaraz and Michael Keane missed out at the City Ground. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is still dealing with a hamstring injury from the Chelsea game last month and hasn’t recovered yet.

Moyes said Keane has a shot at making the squad for Brentford, but Dewsbury-Hall and Alcaraz are still out. “Michael Keane has got a chance. But I would say the others don’t have a chance,” was how Moyes put it.

Jarrad Branthwaite and Seamus Coleman are both sidelined with hamstring injuries. Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gana Gueye are away with Senegal at the African Cup of Nations.

With numbers thin, Everton called Harrison Armstrong back from his loan at Preston North End. The 18-year-old has impressed there, scoring once and picking up three assists in 18 matches for a team chasing promotion.

Moyes says he’d actually like to send Armstrong back to Preston once more players return — but if the teenager impresses, things could change. “There’s an opportunity if we bring him back and he does well. But the truth is, I want him to go back. I want Preston to get promoted. It’s my old club;—but I played and managed there. They’re pushing for the playoffs, and it’s been great for them. I’ve watched him quite a bit at Preston, and he’s doing well. If I can, I’ll send him back because it’s good for his development. But right now, we need him—and if he takes his chance, we’ll keep him around.”

With rumors flying about Liam Rosenior potentially replacing Enzo Maresca at Stamford Bridge, he has finally spoken up about the now open Chelsea job. The club said on Thursday that Maresca was leaving, just two days after their 2-2 draw with AFC Bournemouth.

Maresca got the team into the Club World Cup and Conference League during his first season, and he also got them back into the Champions League. Rosenior is now a possible replacement for the Italian, thanks to his good work at Strasbourg, which is also owned by BlueCo.

Sources say that the 41-year-old has impressed the people in charge at Chelsea during his time in France. Last season, the former Hull City coach guided Strasbourg to the Conference League with a team of good young players.

Rosenior has often led his team to big wins against Paris Saint-Germain, Olympique Lyonnais, and Marseille. It's not clear yet if he will be named as Maresca's permanent successor.

On Friday, Rosenior spoke to the media in France before Strasbourg's Ligue 1 game against OGC Nice. The 41-year-old avoided questions about a move to London, saying, I'm going to talk about Nice because that's what I'm here to do.

He added, There's a lot of talk, a lot of guesses, but if a coach pays attention to that, they won't succeed. My job is here, and I like this club.

No, I haven't talked to the players about it. There's no need; they're connected, and I've made a few jokes. But we've been focused on our work. The goal is to keep doing great things here.

In life, nothing is certain. You never know what will happen tomorrow. I'm just doing my job. There's been talk already. I don't want to promise how long I'll be here, but I enjoy being here every day. I plan to keep doing that while I'm here. I love this club, but I can't promise anything. No one can.

Rosenior also said, I want to do my job here; it's that simple. Right now, I'm the manager of Strasbourg, and I'm focused on my job.

"We talk because we're part of the same group," he admitted. I'm being honest; you can't control everything in life. I could say I'm going to stay here for years and then get fired.

However, if he gets the job, Rosenior has shared his thoughts on Chelsea's past way of treating managers and what it takes to do well at the club, according to Football London.

In 2019, Rosenior appeared on Sky Sports' 'The Debate' and made it clear what he would need to take over a club like Chelsea. He said that managers need time to make their vision happen and that constantly firing them doesn't help.

We talk about Antonio Conte's frustration with transfers and getting the players he wants to play the way he wants, he said.

He was very open about his frustration at the time. Now you bring in another manager [Maurizio Sarri] with a completely different style. Are you going to support him? Or will it be another case of, 'It's not working; let's get the next manager'?

Another manager comes in and wants this player and that player. It's not going to work that way. There will be a time when you have to go through some tough times to achieve success in the long run.

It's very difficult. The Chelsea board needs to decide, 'Is this the guy we're going to support for the long term?' Supporting the board isn't just about the transfer budget.

The club's history shows that if things go wrong and not as we want, we change the manager. That puts pressure on Sarri. For me, there comes a point where you say, 'That's our manager for the next two years, and we hired him to build something.'

Right now, Chelsea are behind Manchester City and Liverpool. So what do you expect them to do?

He said this while Roman Abramovich owned the club. The Russian sold the team to Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital in May 2022 for a huge £4.25 billion, but the quick changes in managers have continued.

Thomas Tuchel was in charge when the takeover happened, but he was fired early in the 2022/23 season. Graham Potter's time lasted less than seven months before Frank Lampard filled in temporarily.

Mauricio Pochettino was in charge at Chelsea for only one season, and Maresca's one-and-a-half-year stay is the longest under the current owners. The Italian was hired after just one season at Leicester City.