A couple of fitness boosts have been spotted after Everton released their latest set of training pictures from Finch Farm. Frank Lampard’s squad are shown being put through their paces at their Halewood base ahead of Saturday’s final Premier League home fixture before the World Cup break when they host Leicester City.
The Blues go into the fixture in 12 th place with 14 points from their first 13 matches, some three points above Brendan Rodgers’ side a further three points and six places back in the relegation zone. Here are some of the noticeable factors we have taken from the session.
Yerry good show
Having played in just 70 minutes of football so far this season after suffering an ankle injury in the opening fixture against Chelsea and featuring in a mere 80 of the 165 Premier League games Everton have competed since he signed for the club in 2018, it’s encouraging to see Yerry Mina back on the ball.
The 28-year-old is now in the final year of his current deal and given that he’ll be able to sign a pre-contract with overseas clubs from January and James Tarkowski has forged a solid centre-back pairing with Conor Coady, the Colombian international faces an uncertain future on Merseyside though.
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Ben’s back
Ben Godfrey, who like Mina started Everton’s first Premier League game only to be forced off – in his case breaking his leg just 10 minutes into the fledgling campaign – is also back on the ball as he steps up his recovery. The 24-year-old former Norwich City man is not expected to feature in the first team until after the World Cup break though.
Midfield battle
Competition for starting spots in the centre of the park are now fiercely competed over with Idrissa Gueye, Amadou Onana and Alex Iwobi currently the incumbent trio but a couple of other options have been photographed battling it out. One snap shows Abdoulaye Doucoure’s arm catching Tom Davies in the face in what looks to be a committed challenge between the pair while another of Lampard’s options in the engine room, James Garner, watches on.
Celebration time
The aforementioned James Tarkowski has been a big presence in the Everton dressing room since he arrived from Burnley in the summer but while opponents wouldn’t want the big defender wading over at them with his arms outstretched – just ask Crystal Palace – Anthony Gordon was only too pleased to welcome him for a congratulatory hug with the pair all smiles.
The Blues’ home grown hero, who has netted three times in the Premier League this term, had presumably scored a goal but how long will it be before we see ‘Tarky’ nick one?
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