Everton travels to Brentford with the hope of bouncing back from the recent debacle. The terrible run of form has been down to the lack of quality players available and not being able to operate with confidence and show resilience.
In terms of injury news, last weekend, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Yerry Mina, Andre Gomes and Tom Davies were out for the Manchester City game. During the game against the Premier League champions, Demarai Gray suffered an injury that looked serious as he was substituted immediately.
During the game, Richarlison seemed frustrated by the lack of chances and his temper flared which saw him commit a reckless foul and earn a yellow card, his fifth of the season, in turn earning a one-match suspension.
Ahead of the trip to the Brentford community stadium, Everton boss Rafa Benitez spoke to the media and addressed the million dollar question, how serious is Gray’s injury? The Spanish boss also provided an update on other players.
Everton Injury News
"He was doing a light training session today, very light training session. We will see if he can be available. It was less serious than we were expecting. Yerry is doing well but still not ready, Dominic as well. We are bringing back some players, we are getting better in this department.We are bringing back some players. The problem is some of the key players we have missing already, it seems that they are more important because we are not winning (via the club’s official YouTube channel)"
Before the tide turned against Everton and results started going downhill, the Toffees were cruising and one of the most influential players was Doucoure. The former Watford man had already matched the last season’s goal contribution tally in nine games. However, the Frenchman picked up a metatarsal injury, which arrived as a big blow to Benitez and Everton.
Initially, he was expected to remain out for eight weeks but his stress fracture wasn’t as serious as it was imagined. Benitez added that Doucoure is recovering well and trained with the squad and there’s half chance that he might feature on Sunday.
"The one that was unexpected [to return] was Doucoure. But, he’s been training today so it’s one player that may be available. We have to be sure he is fine, everything is healed and the player is confident.Because it’s a metatarsal issue, if he’s fine then he’s fine. We have to make sure he goes to the game if everything is healed and the player is confident. It’s always a risk coming back from injury, but not a massive risk."
The potential return of Doucoure gives a huge boost to the side and gives more options to Benitez in the heart of the midfield. Davies and Gomes are sidelined with knee and calf problems respectively.
Will Abdoulye Doucoure and Demarai Gray feature on Sunday?