Everton’s Walcott woes continue, Gomes appears to deny report

It’s looking more and more likely that Everton supporters are not going to enjoy the resumption of football too much next week. The Blues were wallowing in midtable when the coronavirus pandemic led to a pause in the current campaign three months ago, and now injuries are continuing to plague what has been a stop-start season.

First Jean-Philippe Gbamin sustained a freak injury just when he was about to return from a series of mishaps, ruling him out for the rest of 2020. Then last week Yerry Mina picked up a muscle tear in training that will see him out for at least a month.

Today Everton announced veteran Theo Walcott has sustained an abdominal injury that required surgery on Monday, which means the forward will be out for about a month too.

Theo Walcott is set to miss the restart of the Premier League season after undergoing surgery.

The 31-year-old Everton forward had abdominal surgery on Monday evening, having developed symptoms following the first team’s return to training.

He has now started his rehabilitation under the care of the Club’s medical team and is expected to make a return to training in four weeks.

Walcott has been underwhelming since joining the Toffees from Arsenal, has featured in 79 games over two seasons, scoring ten times with eight assists. With him out Alex Iwobi and Anthony Gordon will vie for the open spot in the starting XI.

Additionally, Andre Gomes has picked up a knock and missed training sessions this week, which puts him in doubt for the derby on Sunday, June 21st [Liverpool Echo]. It was confirmed earlier today that the game against Liverpool will be held at Goodison Park despite security and safety concerns as the Reds could feasibly lift their first ever Premier League title at the home of their crosstown rivals, behind closed-doors.

While the Portuguese midfielder is expected to return to training next week, it might be a game-time decision for Carlo Ancelotti to see if he is fit to play. The Toffees’ midfield has been both an offensive black hole and a defensively porous sieve this season and the Italian manager’s 4-4-2 not remedying much. Between debilitating injuries, out-of-position players and over-the-hill veterans, it’s not looking positive that the Blues can make a charge for a Europa League spot in the nine games left.

UPDATE: It appears Gomes has denied on social media the report that he is injured?

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Everton - remaining 2019-20 fixtures

• Liverpool (H)
• Norwich City (A)
• Leicester City (H)
• Tottenham Hotspur (A)
• Southampton (H)
• Wolverhampton Wanderers (A)
• Aston Villa (H)
• Sheffield United (A)
• AFC Bournemouth (H)