Everton ‘locked in’ to Sydney Super Cup tournament in November
Everton are said to be “locked in” to take the final spot in the Sydney Super Cup in November, according to Australian news outlet FTBL.
The vacant space has been opened up by Scottish Cup winners Rangers who pulled out of the tournament after severe backlash from supporters against the proposal.
As a result, Frank Lampard will take his Everton side to the other side of the world while the World Cup is going on in Qatar to play two matches on Australian soil.
Firstly, they will take on Rangers’ Old Firm rivals Celtic and their Australian manager Ange Postecoglu before they take on A-League side Western Sydney Wanderers.
Lampard won’t have a full squad to select from with some of his players likely to be called up for the Qatar World Cup, namely Jordan Pickford although other English players could earn a call-up with a good start to the 2022-23 campaign.
Clever
If it is only Pickford who heads to the Middle East to represent his country, Lampard could have a very good chance to gain some traction on his rivals as the Premier League takes a month off.
The majority of the other teams will be purely training with the odd behind-closed-doors friendly to shout about while our squad will be getting competitive minutes in their legs in front of a packed house in Sydney.
It might not seem like much of a difference but every little detail adds up and we could find ourselves really well placed to kick on when the World Cup break comes to an end on Boxing Day.
After the diabolical season we have just endured, we need to scour for an advantage anywhere we can find it and you don’t see any other teams making such efforts to find competitive games to play during the mid-season break.