Dominic Calvert-Lewin ‘touch and go’ for Everton ahead of Merseyside Derby clash v Liverpool
Dominic Calvert-Lewin is “touch and go at best” for Everton in the Merseyside Derby clash with Liverpool, while three others have been ruled out.
The England striker was substituted after an hour against Arsenal as a precaution with a hamstring problem, and Sean Dyche has shared that he is still being monitored by the club.
There is also no fresh update for injured first-team trio Nathan Patterson, James Garner and Andros Townsend which means they will miss the game too.
“We’re still monitoring him,” he said, as quoted by Richard Buxton (10 February).
“He’ll be touch and go at best for Liverpool… He put a real shift in in the last game but unfortunately he’s got a niggly hamstring.”
Michael Keane is still looking to regain match fitness after coming back into the squad since Frank Lampard’s sacking, and could come into contention soon.
Momentum
Bringing in a new manager at the point in which we did was super necessary, but it was also a big risk with the run of games that he would have immediately.
Dyche managed to earn a huge, yet unexpected win, against Arsenal in his first game in charge but that shouldn’t take away from how difficult this game is going to be.
Our record at Anfield is horrendous and while Liverpool have been poor for a while now too, their home record is still very daunting and their fans will be up for this game.
We have got plenty of momentum, and Dyche will know that the result isn’t as important as the performance in games like this. If we are able to perform in the same way as we did last week, then there is no reason we can’t be successful again.
It will be difficult and everyone acknowledges that, but as Dyche made clear last week the minimum requirement is maximum effort and that is what fans will be expecting to see no matter what team is named as the starting side on Monday night.