Ben Brown

Tue 19 April 2022 20:40, UK

Frank Lampard has made the somewhat bold statement that Everton don’t need to worry too much about James Maddison when Leicester visit Goodison Park tomorrow night.

The 25-year-old midfielder has been getting back to his best after a slow start to the season with the Foxes, registering 23 goal contributions across all competitions with the most recent being his equaliser against PSV Eindhoven in the Europa Conference League second leg.

Despite this impressive upturn in form the Blues boss seemed dismissive of the Englishman’s talents, instead picking out other unnamed individuals he thinks will give the Toffees the most concern.

“James Maddison is a fantastic player, great ability levels,” he told the Liverpool Echo (19 April).

“I have a lot of respect for him, but there are others who can really cause us problems.”

Short Sighted

Whilst Lampard did demonstrate his respect for Maddison, it seems as though he isn’t too worried about what the attacking midfielder might produce.

That seems incredibly naive given his recent upturn in form and Everton’s well documented defensive frailties this season.

He’s scored or assisted in three of his last four Premier League games and will likely be confident of extending that hot streak against the Toffees.

Manchester United couldn’t find a way past Jordan Pickford in the 1-0 success at Goodison, but that was a massive outlier and owed more to the stopper’s several impressive saves rather than a superb team effort.

Brendan Rodgers Foxes will be much more confident of hurting this vulnerable Everton defence as they look to cement a top-half finish and keep their good form going before their crunch clash against Roma.

And with Maddison currently one of their biggest threats, he can’t afford to be underestimated.

In other Everton news, the club could look to sign this impressive striker.

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