Fabian Delph has emerged as an injury doubt for the Toffees’ return to Premier League action against Liverpool in the Merseyside derby.
According to the Liverpool Echo, the former Manchester City midfielder has been ‘forced’ to miss training through an injury.
It is believed that the injury that the Englishman is suffering with is a muscle strain.
While the report from the Liverpool Echo does not state that Delph will definitely be missing the game against the Reds, there is a question mark over his availability.
The game against Jurgen Klopp’s outfit is set to take place on Sunday 21st June at Goodison Park (per Premier League).
Delph could become the fourth player to have picked up an injury since the Toffees returned to training and miss the first game back, with Theo Walcott, Yerry Mina and Jean-Philippe Gbamin all already sidelined.
TIF Thoughts…
This season, it is fair to say that the English midfielder has been in fairly unimpressive form, after picking up a weak 6.49/10 average rating in the Premier League (per WhoScored).
The rating, which has been earned over 16 league outings this season, has left Delph as only the 14th-best performer for the Toffees.
However, judging from average ratings, it seems that the 30-year-old would be missed by the Toffees should he be absent for the Merseyside derby.
Do you hope that Fabian Delph is fit for the Merseyside derby?Yes, we need him to be
No, he's not good enough
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Of the players who are fit to play for the Toffees and capable of playing in central midfield, Delph has been the second-best behind Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Gbamin has performed better but is unavailable – while Tom Davies, Morgan Schneiderlin and Andre Gomes have all delivered worse average ratings.
So hopefully for Everton fans and Carlo Ancelotti, the £10.8 million-rated Englishman will be able to overcome his muscle strain and be fit to face Liverpool.