Benitez confirms two absentees against Arsenal including star man

Everton boss Rafa Benitez has confirmed that Dominic Calvert-Lewin will not be ready to feature against Arsenal tonight, while Tom Davies remains sidelined also.

The Gunners will make the trip to Merseyside for this evening’s Premier League clash, with the two sides arriving in very different form.

Without a single win from their last eight matches, you would think they would want their best players at their disposal, but unfortunately they are missing their main outlet for goals in DCL.

Benitez confirmed in his press-conference ahead of the match that he is hoping that Mina and Rondon could well be available, but Davies also joins the striker in already being ruled out.

“Yerry Mina has today [Friday] done part of the training session,” Benitez told reporters as quoted on the club’s official website. “He is getting closer. We will see how he reacts in the next couple of days, to see if he is available or not.

“With Rondon, we are assessing him. He is feeling better but we need to wait for the scan and see how he is doing.

“Andre Gomes has been training. We are still missing Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Tom Davies.

“The other players at the moment are available.”

Our defence has been in top form in recent months, and you can expect that without DCL there is a strong chance that we will be able to get another clean sheet from our travels today.

There is mounting pressure on Rafa’s job at present as you would expect for a team that is in such dire form, and I wouldn’t expect us to help ease any of that pressure as we look to continue our fine form.

Patrick