Everton must take advantage of their home form as they take on Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday afternoon, with Frank Lampard’s side running out of opportunities to save themselves from their first-ever Premier League relegation this season.
With the pressure on the Toffees to win at Goodison Park, it may be the right time for the 43-year-old to finally drop Michael Keane from the starting line-up after a series of woeful performances from the defender.
There is no doubt that the £65k-p/w centre-back has become a liability after scoring his second own goal in just seven league games against Tottenham on Monday night. He has putting in generally poor performances which have ultimately contributed to the continued demise of the team over the last few months.
When you look at Keane’s most recent display against Spurs, it’s fair to say that he should be dropped for the Wolves clash this weekend.
As per SofaScore, before he was withdrawn on Monday night, Keane made no tackles, interceptions or clearances, scored an own goal and lost two of his three duels, finally being replaced at half-time by Jarrad Branthwaite.
Journalist Sean Lunt criticised the defender, claiming that the 29-year-old had “regressed awfully” following that 5-0 defeat, tweeting: “Another sloppy goal for Everton to concede and it’s Michael Keane again. He’s regressed awfully once again, Everton would do well to sell at this point.”
The ex-Chelsea boss has been given a huge boost this weekend as Ben Godfrey is available for selection for the first time since the beginning of February, having fully recovered and returned to training after sustaining a hamstring tear. Therefore, the opportunity presents itself further for Lampard to rely on other experienced options for his defence on Sunday.
Should Keane be dropped against Wolves?
Yes
No
Everton need to come out fighting tomorrow after their chastening defeat in north London, and Lampard must duly make some big calls regarding his starting line-up. A good start would be to axe the underperforming Keane.
In other news: Lampard must do everything to keep this man at Goodison Park