A fit and firing Dominic Calvert-Lewin could be the difference as Sean Dyche hopes Everton’s Goodison Park goal drought will end against Luton Town.
The Blues are yet to give the home fans a strike to celebrate this season, having lost all three games in front of their own supporters. Against Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers the issue was about finishing the chances that were created in abundance.
It was a different story against Arsenal, the game in which Calvert-Lewin made his second return from injury of the season so far. Since that substitute appearance he has hit form – scoring twice in two games as Everton recorded impressive wins at Brentford and Aston Villa.
His presence, and ruthlessness, could be the difference on Saturday. But while Dyche is relishing having the 26-year-old at his disposal, he is just as pleased to have another strong option in Beto. Not only does the summer signing provide his manager with options, he means the pressure is no longer resting solely on Calvert-Lewin.
Everton have not scored more than one during a game at Goodison since the 3-0 win over Crystal Palace almost a year ago. In that time, and under Dyche, they have scored multiple times in several games – most notably hitting three at Brentford last weekend and five at Brighton and Hove Albion last season.
Asked why there has been such an anomaly away from home – with his Everton side also scoring twice at Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City and Villa on Wednesday – Dyche said: “I don’t know. It is hard to define these things because if the story has been going on that long, [then] who has been fit, who has been active, who has been playing, what’s the team, what has the team been playing like? It is not just because you’ve either got a striker or haven’t got a striker – what has been the production, what is the XG, what has been the amount of chances produced, the amount of bodies in the box? There are certainly things we have changed since we got here statistically but even then you get them in the box and you’ve got to score a goal. It seems simplistic but it is the hardest part to coach. Every manager will tell you that. The final moment of truth. That is the hardest part to coach.”
Dyche’s Everton started the season with two blanks at Goodison from performances in which a lot of chances, some excellent, were missed. He had neither Beto, who has enjoyed a promising start since his arrival, nor Calvert-Lewin for those matches. Now he has both.
He can take hope from the form of Calvert-Lewin in particular. His two goals from this week were his first from open play since that win over Palace under former manager Lampard. He displayed composure and ruthlessness in both finishes – attributes absent in the missed chances Goodison has witnessed. Dyche said: “There is a certain thing about goalscorers, and I’ve seen enough to know he is definitely that. The real ones don’t overthink things [in front of goal] like we would. They just finish, it is a natural part of their life. The best do that. Harry Kane rarely over-thinks anything, out of his feet, bang, it’s a goal. Dom is getting back to full flow, work to do but he is getting back there.”
For Dyche, the shock 5-1 win at Brighton in May was the only time before this week that he believes he has seen Calvert-Lewin close to full fitness. It has been a long road to reach this point, one that has required patience from both the player and the staff supporting him. Dyche said he understood the difficulties faced by Calvert-Lewin, suggesting the muscle injuries that have plagued him over the past two season can be harder to recover from than problems that initially appear more serious.
Dyche said: “He is one of those rare footballers in the sense he is so finely-tuned. You look at him athletically – he is lean, he is super strong, and sometimes it is just repetition of training that clears your mind a little bit of injuries and ailments and all the things that gather overtime. I was injured far too many times in my career and they were big injuries but in a way they are easier to deal with. I had a broken leg. It was broken, end of story, you know the protocols.
“With muscle injuries, it is incredibly frustrating. Each muscle will heal differently, it takes longer or shorter, different people heal at different speeds. The big stuff has more risk obviously but the big injuries, you know that’s it for the long haul. The niggly injuries can be more frustrating, muscle injuries. At Burnley for two seasons Johan Gudmundsson had tiny calf injuries but he kept getting them. We couldn’t get him through that cycle.
“It looked to me as if Dom is coming through that cycle. He looked freer [at Villa], the way he was moving. I’d only seen it really clearly once last season and that was at Brighton. Totally free, strong, running hard. And then he got injured. It is like: ‘Not again.’ Now, hopefully, he’s looking stronger and clearer again. I think it is that repetitive training of getting out there, getting used to training every day and getting used to your body. It is hard to explain but I have been through it myself, you just have to be balanced and train without thinking about anything else. Get out there and train, that’s what we want him to get to and he is well on the way.”
A boost for Calvert-Lewin, Dyche believes, is having the pressure on his fitness being reduced due to the excitement around Beto. He said: “It sounds easy but it’s not when you’re not winning games and the noise is around him [Calvert-Lewin]. Everyone is pointing and looking at you, we need you fit. It can be a heavy weight to carry. It looks like that is coming off him now. It looks like he is beginning to take less of a burden. It helps Beto has come in and made a mark really quick. Hopefully he is on the way back now to being the fine player he is.