Sean Dyche could find himself under pressure at Everton as XI v Burnley announced
Everton boss Sean Dyche has taken a risk by naming Dominic Calvert-Lewin in his starting line-up to face Burnley on Wednesday (1 November).
The Toffees play host to the fellow Premier League side Burnley at Goodison Park, with a place in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup on the line.
Dyche may have been tempted to heavily rotate between league games with West Ham and Brighton and Hove Albion, but that is not the case.
As confirmed by Everton’s official Twitter account (1 November), two changes were made by Dyche – Arnaut Danjuma and Ashley Young coming in for Abdoulaye Doucoure and Nathan Patterson.
Calvert-Lewin, who scored the winner at London Stadium on Sunday (29 October), was therefore deemed ready to start a sixth game in a row.
That is brilliant news on the face of it, of course, as the England international is finally enjoying an injury-free run under Dyche.
But the fact remains that DCL has suffered from countless lay-offs over the past few years, and this seems like a big risk on Dyche’s behalf.
Should Calvert-Lewin spend any more time on the sidelines, it will inevitably have an impact on the Toffees’ recent upturn in form.
Not only will they miss out on the 26-year-old’s goals, but Dyche’s back-up forwards – namely Beto – will be lacking any serious sharpness due to being overlooked again versus Burnley.
Should results indeed drop off, the pressure will of course be back on Dyche again, as is the way football works.
But fingers crossed that Calvert-Lewin comes through unscathed against Burnley and proves once and for all that his injury hell is a thing of the past.
In other Everton news, a BBC reporter has shared an update on Farhad Moshiri’s possible attendance at Goodison Park for the Burnley match.