Liverpool Echo journalist pinpoints potential first of 2023 for Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Everton
Liverpool Echo journalist Joe Thomas pointed out Friday’s press conference was potentially the first time in 2023 that the fitness of Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin was a topic of discussion.
England international Calvert-Lewin, 26, has had well-documented fitness issues over the past couple of seasons but has featured in six of the Toffees’ nine Premier League games this season.
Thomas, posting on Twitter on Friday (27 October), said both Calvert-Lewin and the club’s medical team should take pride in the strides he has made.
“Just a thought to end the week: I think that may have been the first Everton press conference of 2023 in which Dominic Calvert-Lewin + his fitness was not brought up,” he wrote.
“While there was lots to discuss, it’s a credit to him and the Blues’ medical team – and shows how far he has come.”
Vital
Calvert-Lewin made only 34 top-flight appearances across the two previous seasons prior to this campaign and his two Premier League goals in 2023/24 already matches the tally he managed last term.
It is little coincidence that Calvert-Lewin’s fitness issues coincided with Everton struggling at the wrong end of the table, with the Toffees involved in relegation battles in each of the past two seasons.
Of course, a third straight battle against the drop might be on the cards this season but having Calvert-Lewin fit, fresh, and firing at least gives Everton a better chance of avoiding such a scenarion.
Calvert-Lewin is vital to this team and prior to his injury was the main understudy to England captain Harry Kane for the Three Lions. It would be difficult to envisage he makes Euro 2024 but if he stays fit and scores plenty of goals then you just never know, it’s probably what Calvert-Lewin himself is aiming for.
In other Everton news, Gabby Agbonlahor has predicted the outcome of the Toffees’ encounter with West Ham on Sunday.