Frank Lampard and Everton in Trouble

27/12/22 1736

The 2022/23 English Premier League season resumed on Boxing Day with a host of fixtures, including the meeting between Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Julen Lopetegui is the new man in the Wolves dugout and he could not have asked for a better start to the second half of the season as a 95th minute winner saw his team take maximum points at Goodison Park.

The win for Wolves lifts them off the bottom of the Premier League table and into 18th place on 13 points. Southampton have dropped to the foot of the table, with Nottingham Forest, yet to play in this round of fixtures at the time of writing, in 19th place.

However, more significantly is the drop for Everton, who are only one place above the relegation zone and 1 point better off than Wolves.

Alarm bells must be ringing at Goodison Park as Everton are being dragged into a relegation battle this season. Trends show The Toffees have won only 1 of their last 8 Premier League matches and have lost 6 of those league games.

Everton have lost each of their last 3 Premier League fixtures, with the defeats coming at home against Leicester City and Wolves plus away to Bournemouth, the latter of which was a 3-0 loss.

The Everton fans are beginning to get frustrated and there is a familiar feeling brewing around Goodison Park as Frank Lampard knows his job is now on the line.

Even when Everton took the lead against Wolves, they never seemed in control of the game and the home fans knew the away team were going to score a late winner to take maximum points.

Everton did create chances to score but were wasteful and the fact they have the second worst record in front of goal at home in the Premier League tells you everything you need to know.

Everton have scored only 12 goals in the Premier League this season. Only Wolves and Nottingham Forest have a worse record in-front of goal and both those teams have been languishing in the relegation zone for some time.

The injury problems facing Dominic Calvert-Lewin have not helped the cause and Everton’s top striker has only appeared six times this season, scoring 1 goal. The England international was absent once more as Everton lost to Wolves on Boxing Day.

Lampard needs to bring in a new striker in the January transfer window as it has become apparent, he cannot rely on Calvert-Lewin to be fit for the remainder of the season.

However, there are many clubs in a better position than Everton wanting to strengthen at the top end of the pitch. The board may also be reluctant to back Lampard in the transfer market as his future is in doubt.

With Manchester City away the next fixture for Everton, a big defeat in that game could be the end for Lampard at Goodison Park and Everton will be in the familiar position of looking for a new manager.