Sam Stone

Wed 28 December 2022 8:10, UK

Everton could be without four players for their trip to Manchester City as the pressure continues to build on Frank Lampard after their latest defeat to Wolves.

Sport Witness journalist Sean Lunt suggested (via Twitter, 26 December) it’s now the “obvious” decision to sack the 44-year-old after a miserable run of results.

Things could well have become worse for Lampard after injury expert Ben Dinnery revealed (Premier injuries) that he could be without a number of players for the daunting trip to The Etihad.

Yerry Mina was forced off with a thigh injury in the defeat to Wolves and is a doubt for the game. Dominic Calvert-Lewin is also a doubt, with the striker still returning from his latest injury layoff.

James Garner and Andros Townsend are both long-term absentees and won’t feature, however, Conor Coady will be available after not featuring against his parent club on Boxing Day.

Far from ideal

A trip to The Etihad to face the most in-form striker in the World and one of the best teams on the planet is not the ideal fixture for Lampard. The lacklustre performances, lack of cohesion, and poor results have seen Everton become a fixture in this season’s relegation dogfight.

Having Coady available is a boost, but it’s a big ask for the England international to come back in and deliver a performance that will keep Erling Haaland quiet. Expectations will be extremely low heading to Manchester, and it’s up to the players to try and stay in the game as long as they possibly can.

The worrying aspect for Everton is that they’ve lost to two teams who are in and around them in their recent Premier League fixtures. Bournemouth have been impressive but are a team the Toffees should be beating.

Leicester were on a poor run of form before they run at Goodison Park, and Wolves were rock bottom of the league. Football has thrown up stranger results, but it’s extremely difficult to see Lampard’s side getting anything at The Etihad.