Everton prepare for Brentford match still without the striker they need

As Everton prepare for the latest match of this new Premier League season away at Brentford on Saturday, there is less than a day for the club to sign a new forward in time.

Everton have until tomorrow lunchtime to bring in a new striker, if that player is to be eligible to play for the Toffees’ in this game.

Does anyone think this will happen? The answer is almost certainly no, and so the Blues’ will be facing a fixture that I think they need three points from, still without the goal-scorer so clearly required.

The Toffees’ have themselves directly only managed a solitary goal in the Premier League; Demarai Gray’s equaliser against Nottingham Forest last weekend.

Had he still been an Everton player, Dele Alli might well have played in this match given the lack of attacking options and almost complete absence of goal threat in the current side. Although he hasn’t looked like scoring in this campaign.

But obviously, Dele is not available on Saturday after his loan move to Besiktas was confirmed today, so Frank Lampard will have to rely essentially for goals on Gray, Salomon Rondon and Anthony Gordon.

It’s not exactly an attack to inspire much confidence or frighten the opposition considering Rondon has only netted once in the Premier League since joining the Blues’, while Gordon managed a few goals last season but is hardly prolific himself and of course hasn’t scored this.

Wednesday’s Carabao Cup game hardly gives Evertonians much hope or expectation of a sudden goal rush as the Toffees’ could only manage a one nil win against League One opposition.

Saturday’s opponents Brentford are a big, physical side with pace and a powerful, goal-scoring centre-forward Everton are desperate for in Ivan Toney.

There are also more injury problems for Frank Lampard to contend with as he contemplates the team he will pick to face the Bees.

Tom Davies joined Ben Godfrey, Yerry Mina and Abdoulaye Doucoure as players picking up injuries just since the start of this new campaign.

I said tounge in cheek a few weeks ago that I thought it was possible Everton would run out of players if these injuries kept on coming. Maybe, they really will!

Davies’ injury is particularly irritating as he had just returned from a long spell out and had come back into the team playing in central midfield where Everton are short of options. Perhaps, not playing mid-week will turn out to have just been just precautionary.

With Idrissa Gueye’s long-mooted return to Goodison Park still looking at best fifty-fifty and Doucoure injured, this means the burden in midfield falls on a young player just signed in Amadou Onana, who is still finding his feet in English football, and Alex Iwobi.

Iwobi’s emergence as a player to be relied upon under Lampard has been one of the few genuine positives since the turn of the year.

This was a footballer who seemed to perfectly fit the mold of so many recent Toffees’ transfers. A huge fee paid for a player who didn’t seem interested or capable of producing the sort of performances that had persuaded the club to buy him.

But, since late last season he has shown a real work ethic and increasing effectiveness playing in a central midfield position. More of the same will be needed over the coming weeks.

Worrying, the defence looked shaky at times last weekend with the normally reliable James Tarkowski in particualr having a poor game. This was one part of the team that had looked solid since the start of the season, even with the injury problems.

So, given all this what is the most likely outcome of Saturday’s game? Without that additional firepower I can’t see Everton winning and I think a draw is the best they can hope for.