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Everton v Leeds United
26th Jan@20:00 | Hill Dickinson Stadium
Everton’s hopes of lighting up Monday night’s clash with Leeds at the Hill Dickinson Stadium have taken a blow after talisman Jack Grealish was ruled out for up to three months with a stress fracture in his foot. The injury, sustained during last Sunday’s shock 1-0 win at Villa Park, deprives David Moyes of his chief creative spark just as a buoyant Whites side heads to Merseyside. Everton have lost three of their last five, with their only victory during this time, coming early in December against Nottingham Forest.
To make matters worse, Everton are without suspended centre-back Michael Keane and a quartet of injured players, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Tim Iroegbunam, Jarrad Branthwaite and Charly Alcaraz, forcing seasoned full-back Seamus Coleman onto the bench as cover. The only silver lining is the return of Senegal internationals Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gueye from AFCON duty; they rejoined training on Friday and will be assessed over the weekend.
Opposite them, Leeds boss Daniel Farke arrives with relatively fewer concerns. He admits there’s “a little question mark” over Gabi Gudmundsson’s adductor, but Anton Stach and Dan James are“pretty, pretty close” to full fitness have been reintegrated into team sessions. Jaka Bijol, who missed the Fulham game with a hamstring strain, is not expected back for another two to three weeks, which suggests the gaffer will stick with the centre-half trio of Struijk, Rodon and either Justin or Bornauw depending on whether Gudmundsson starts. Front man Dominic Calvert-Lewin faces his former side for the first time.
Farke lauded Everton’s trademark compactness under Moyes, “It is never easy to open one of David’s teams and create chances”, and stressed that January signings will only arrive if they’re “100%” right for the squad. Emphasising his side’s proactive, goal-minded DNA, he insisted Leeds will continue to press for victories regardless of stature: “We always want to be the protagonist and be proactive and score goals, home or away.”
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