Gomes and Gueye doubts for United as Everton midfield injury crisis continues

This news is just the latest in a series of irritating injury setbacks in recent months that have particularly hit Everton in the engine room.

Abdoulaye Doucoure, Amadou Onana, Gueye and Gomes have all been absent for a considerable time during this period due to injury or in Gueye's case as well, international duty.

It has left the manager struggling to put out a fit midfield and the consequences have been profound with the Toffees now without a Premier League win since mid December.

Now it looks as though Gomes and Gueye might well not make it for the short trip to Manchester United tomorrow lunchtime, with Gueye almost certain to miss out.

Obviously, Dyche needs this sort of news like a hole in the head and with his Everton team desperately needing a win, their potential absence again is another costly blow.

Gueye has had a disrupted past few months and after returning from Africa Cup of Nations duty with Senegal he has struggled to stay match-fit.

At least hopefully Dyche will have Onana and James Garner fit to play in the central midfield ball-wining posiitons.

As for 30-year-old Gomes, he has looked like he could make a positive difference since he came back into the side at Spurs following a long absence from the Blues' team due to a season-long loan spell in France, which was followed by injury.

His creative ability and goal-scoring - he netted at Tottenham and then scored the winner in the FA Cup replay against Crystal Palace - are in desperately short supply.

That chronic lack of goals cost the Toffees dear yet again last weekend against West Ham as they failed to take a string of decent chances and then fell to defeat as two late goals from the visitors gave them the points.

Now the team face a trip to a ground where they have only managed one solitary victory since the inception of the Premier League back in the 1992-93 season!

So given that appalling record, even with a fully fit squad to choose from, few Evertonians would be expecting a positive result tomorrow.

But the problem is that the Blues really need three points badly with the games now beginning to run out and fewer and fewer opportunities to end this dreadful winless streak going back nearly three months.

As for what team Dyche will pick I assume he will go with his usual 4-4-1-1 away formation, probably having Doucoure sit behind whoever he picks to lead the line up front.

Beto finally got his chance to be the starting centre-forward against the Hammers and did score, but he also missed penalty and other chances too.

Will the manager stick to his Portuguese summer signing or be tempted to return to the option of Dominic Calvert-Lewin?

It is not exactly a great choice given that Calvert-Lewin hasn't found the back of the net since late October.

Either way I'm struggling to see Everton scoring tomorrow and I fully expect the miserable record at Old Trafford to continue for another season.