Everton manager Frank Lampard has confirmed striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin will be out for up to six weeks with a knee injury.
The 25-year-old suffered the injury in training and will now be forced to miss the early part of the new Premier League season.
He spent much of last term on the sidelines but returned for the final four league games, with the England international scoring two crucial goals to help keep his club in the top flight.
But he will now be back in the Finch Farm treatment room, as he looks to get himself back to the player who scored 16 goals in 33 Premier League appearances in the 2020-21 campaign.
Everton boss Lampard was frustrated with the injury to his main striker but conceded that these things can happen.
"Losing a player like Dominic, his quality, in the week going into the first game is obviously going to affect you," the former Chelsea midfielder told reporters.
"I think we're probably looking at around six weeks for the injury. It comes with the territory of training at this level.
"We'll have to work around it, other players will have to step up and hopefully that six weeks passes relatively quickly and we'll get Dominic back."
"Through pre-season we were constantly commenting on how good he looked, strong, we were really pleased so it's a knock for everybody, particularly for him."
Calvert-Lewin's absence leaves Lampard with a selection headache for Saturday's Premier League opener against Chelsea, with a real lack of striking options available to him.
Last season's top goalscorer Richarlison has departed for Tottenham Hotspur this window in a £60million deal, while Salomon Rondon is suspended after being sent off against Brentford at the back end of the 2021-22 campaign.
Lampard suggested that it will be Dele Alli to play up top against Chelsea and did not rule out the possibility of a striker being brought in before the end of the window.
When questioned on any potential business, the 44-year old replied: "I wouldn't speak about other targets individually, but in that area of the pitch [attack], we are obviously aware.
"We lost Richarlison who was versatile across the front, we've brought in Dwight [McNeil] but we're well aware of areas where we want to strengthen.
"A lot of clubs will be making moves in the first few weeks of the season. I don't agree with it but it is what it is.
"Some clubs probably keep their cards close to their chest because of that and wait to see what happens at the end of the window. We know where we want to get to.
"In terms of last season, we finished where we were for a reason, we lost Richarlison who's a big player for us, so we have to assess once the window shuts."
Jurgen Klopp insists winning is all that matters ahead of final Merseyside derby
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp accepts results are all that matter at this stage of the season as he looks to end his final Merseyside derby with a rare victory at Goodison Park.
Klopp has lost just one of 18 matches against the Toffees – the behind-closed-doors game at Anfield in February 2021 – but across Stanley Park his record is just two wins and five draws.
He was surprised by some of the reaction to Sunday’s 3-1 win at Fulham, which attracted criticism for not being the most fluent, but insists winning was the main objective, with no margin for error in a title race in which they are currently third favourites.
“I know this is the last part of the season: it is not about playing the freshest football of the whole year – that would be strange if that works out with the schedule all the teams have,” said Klopp, who will be without Diogo Jota for at least a fortnight after the forward injured himself scoring at Craven Cottage.
“But you have to win games and I think we know how to do that and we have to make sure everybody understands the way we want to try (on Wednesday).
“I wouldn’t say it was straightforward but until two weeks ago everything was probably better than anyone would have expected.
“Then you have this week (losing to Atalanta and Crystal Palace) when the performances were not as bad as the results felt afterwards.
“And then it is like, ‘Why don’t you score enough? If you look at our numbers, yes, there are two teams who have scored more than us (Arsenal and Manchester City) but it is not like there are two teams who scored 50 goals more than us.
“It is always about how you can get the right feeling again for the situation and the next game and we usually do that. I am really happy now with the response.”
Liverpool’s disappointing run of games at Goodison stretches beyond Klopp’s arrival in 2015, with nine of the last 11 encounters ending in draws.
Klopp’s five draws are more than at any other away ground, but that has to change on Wednesday night if they are to maintain the pressure on Arsenal and Manchester City.
“I don’t know exactly when my first derby was, 2016, but when I (first) came here it would not be honest if I said that is my game of the year. It wasn’t, I knew how important it was for the people, but didn’t feel it then.
“Now I know it and feel it. My understanding developed over the years. They are always difficult games, especially there, but it is not too important, what we had in the past.”
Losing Jota will not help in unlocking what is likely to be a determined Everton defence, especially as Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz have all looked below their best in recent weeks.
“Unfortunately Diogo scored the goal, felt a little bit and now we found out it’s a little bit more so he will be out for two weeks,” said Klopp, who revealed Jota had complained of a hip problem in the last couple of weeks.
“It’s a small one but we are late in the season, so obviously now it’s not a great moment for each injury pretty much.
“When I say two weeks, actually really it’s pretty much nothing but enough to not be available.”
PGMOL to allow Nottingham Forest to hear VAR audio of rejected penalty claims
Nottingham Forest will be given the opportunity to privately hear the VAR audio connected to three penalty claims in their match against Everton last Sunday.
Forest called on Monday for the audio between Stuart Attwell and on-field official Anthony Taylor to be released publicly.
Sources close to referees body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) insist it has nothing to hide and will give the club the opportunity to hear the audio in private, as it would any other club making a similar request.
The PA news agency understands no decision has yet been taken on whether this audio would also feature in the next edition of ‘Match Officials Mic’d Up’, which will air next Tuesday evening.
The audio related to a wrongly disallowed Luis Diaz goal for Liverpool at Tottenham earlier this season was released publicly, but in that instance there had been a serious communication error so the matter was treated differently.
Forest have been contacted by PA regarding the offer to release the audio.
The club have risked Football Association and Premier League sanction over their extraordinary response to the three rejected penalty appeals.
The club said in a statement on Sunday they had “warned” PGMOL that VAR Stuart Attwell “was a Luton fan” but that PGMOL did not change the appointment.
The Premier League said it was “extremely disappointed” by the statement, adding it was “never appropriate to improperly question the integrity of match officials”.
The league said it was investigating the matter in relation to the league’s rules, with regulations B.15 and B.16 governing the requirement on clubs and their officials to behave with utmost good faith.
Forest went on to release a further statement on Monday evening calling for the rules around referees’ allegiances to be updated to account for “contextual rivalries in the league table”.
Referees do already declare allegiances and will not be assigned that team’s matches, or certain other fixtures such as those involving direct local rivals of that club. For instance, Michael Oliver has spoken in the past about he cannot referee Newcastle games because he is a fan.
Other factors that determine appointments include which teams an official’s immediate family members support, as well as performance and the number of times they have officiated a particular team’s matches.
PGMOL takes all of that into account and endeavours to make the best appointments possible when allocating six officials to each Premier League fixture from a pool of 70 to 75, while also fulfilling Championship refereeing appointments.
Ultimately, it has confidence in the impartiality and professionalism of its officials.
No club is believed to have ever questioned the process in the manner Forest have since the birth of the Premier League 32 years ago, and nor have the club raised any concerns in relation to the previous occasions when Attwell has been the VAR at their matches this season.
English officials are clearly well thought of by UEFA, with eight included in the list for Euro 2024 this summer.
Taylor will lead one of two English referee teams at Euro 2024, with Oliver leading the other. Attwell and David Coote have been named as VARs.
Three Forest staff – manager Nuno Espirito Santo, full-back Neco Williams and referee analyst Mark Clattenburg – have been asked by the FA for observations on the comments they made about the officiating at Goodison Park.
Inter Milan beat rivals AC Milan to secure 20th Serie A title
Inter Milan claimed their second Serie A title in four seasons after beating AC Milan 2-1 at San Siro.
Goals from Francesco Acerbi and Marcus Thuram gave Inter the three points they required to be crowned champions, although they had to endure a nervous final 10 minutes after Fikayo Tomori pulled a goal back for the home team.
Inter wrapped up the title with five games to spare, standing 17 points clear of their city rivals, who needed a win or draw to delay celebrations.
But they were on the back foot after Acerbi’s 18th-minute header opened the scoring, before Thuram’s shot early in the second half put Inter well on the way to securing a 20th league crown.
Tomori’s effort set up a tense finish, though, in an ill-tempered clash, and there were red cards for Inter’s Denzel Dumfries and two AC Milan players – Theo Hernandez and Davide Calabria – during stoppage time.
Bologna, meanwhile, stayed firmly on course for Champions League qualification by beating Roma 3-1 at the Stadio Olimpico.
Bologna moved just two points behind third-placed Juventus – and seven clear of Roma in fifth – following a dominant display.
Oussama El Azzouzi opened the scoring after 14 minutes, and Joshua Zirkzee doubled the lead with a left-footed shot on the stroke of half-time.
Roma gave themselves a lifeline when Sardar Azmoun netted after the break, but Bologna kept the upper hand and sealed all three points through Alexis Saelemaekers’ goal midway through the second period.
And in Spain’s LaLiga, second-half goals from Youssef En-Nesyri and Isaac Romero delivered a 2-1 home victory for Sevilla over Mallorca, with Abdon Prats claiming a late consolation for the visitors.
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