Donny van de Beek and Andre Gomes out: Early Everton team news v Liverpool
Donny van de Beek and Andre Gomes are both injured and won’t feature for Everton in the Merseyside Derby Frank Lampard has confirmed.
The Dutch loanee had only just come back from injury to join the squad for the draw with Leicester but is out again with a “small injury” to his groin, alongside Gomes who hasn’t featured for some time.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin is still missing with what the manager called “bad luck”, after a torrid season where he has struggled mightily for form and fitness.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday (22 April), Lampard said that the England striker was “not a machine”, and that he didn’t know when he would be back.
Van de Beek looks set to return to parent side Manchester United at the end of the season, and has also been caught in the mire of being unable for feature since picking up a knock in the the warm up against West Ham.
Lampard said: “We’ve got a couple of small injuries. Donny van de Beek won’t be fit, he’s got a small injury in his groin area, pelvic area.
“And Andre Gomes the same, a small one that keeps him out at the weekend.”
The Portuguese has only had a two-minute cameo in the Premier League since a widely derided performance in the loss at Southampton (19 February), and looks likely to struggle to get back into the side even when fit at the moment.
Withstand
Even if The Toffees were operating at the level they are accustomed to it would be a tough task to take anything from a trip to Anfield to face this Liverpool side.
An easy 4-0 win over Manchester United in the previous home game showed what form Jurgen Klopp’s side are in.
With Frank Lampard’s side struggling at the opposite end of the table it is likely to be a backs-to-the-wall operation.
Burnley’s victory over Southampton yesterday (21 April) has put the pressure right back on, as they have now picked up four points in two games without Sean Dyche.
Everton have only a point lead over the Clarets and would benefit massively from boosting that with anything from this game in hand.
But there won’t be many people betting against a home win, so if one materialises it will need to have a line drawn under it very quickly and moved on from.
In other Everton news, a “really good” young talent could be on his way out of the club.
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