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Under-fire Everton boss Frank Lampard faces a tough battle in his quest to renew the Toffees’ Premier League status for next season. It’s a battle that is made even more difficult as he returns to the club where it all started in West Ham United.

The Hammers will certainly not consider their opponents’ position in the table this season and will be out to fight for their own cause, as they look to bustle their way into the Champions League places in what, albeit, looks like a very unlikely ambition.

Two wins from their last six games in all competitions is not the kind of form that will elevate David Moyes’ side to that next level and todays fixture at the London Stadium represents a high stakes fixture for both sides.

West Ham seem to have lost momentum at the worst possible time of the season and will need a win against this season’s Premier League strugglers Everton in order to bounce back from what was a disappointing 3-1 loss against Antonio Conte’s Spurs side last time out.

Everton are in a similar vein of form, with the Toffees also registering two wins from six in all competitions, though one of their two wins came against National League outfit Boreham Wood during their FA Cup tie, so make of that what you will.

During that span of six games, Lampard’s side have shipped an unbelievable 11 goals and scored just three with both stats pointing towards serious downfall for the Merseyside outfit.

In terms of injury news, Lampard is optimistic over the return of the 6 foot 5 Colombian giant Yerry Mina and believes he will return to action in “the next couple of weeks.”

The Everton boss also revealed that Fabian Delph’s return could be “in another week or so” whilst the “long-term injury” to Andros Townsend will be a disappointing one to take for the Toffees faithful.

This is how we believe the Toffees XI will line up against an ambitious West Ham side:

Everton XI: Pickford, Holgate, Keane, Godfrey, Coleman, Doucouré, de Beek, Kenny, Gordon, Calvert-Lewin, Gray

Our prediction sees Richarlison, who was dubbed a “top” player by journalist Carl Markham, miss out after failing to score since the middle of January.

As a result, the £37.8m-rated Dominic Calvert-Lewin returns in what will be just his third start since early March.

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His inclusion in the side will come as a huge boost with the Toffees in need of goals. Calvert-Lewin should certainly bring more of a goal threat considering his 21 strikes in 2020/21.

Townsend will miss out through injury, with Demarai Gray coming in to replace him and Andre Gomes will be axed for the inclusion of on-loan United midfielder Donny Van de Beek in the third and final change to the side.

In other news – Everton must finally unleash £19.8m-rated “freak of a talent” who has been “destroyed”

	Chris Read during his time with the Chennai Superstars last year © Cricinfo Ltd

Chris Read, the Nottinghamshire wicketkeeper, has said he will take the ECB to court if his involvement in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) proves to bring an end to his England career.Read last played for England in the fifth Test against Australia, in Sydney, last January before being shunted out by Paul Nixon, Matt Prior and now Tim Ambrose. He took part in the inaugural ICL event last December but since then the ECB have started to take a hard line against players who appear in the ICL.Read’s county future isn’t in doubt but he would face a one-year ban if he appeared in further ICL tournaments. The ECB have said there won’t be retrospective action against players who have taken part in the ICL, so Read’s England chances appear to back in his hands despite earlier suggestions that selectors would take into account the league.”I don’t feel I am banned from international cricket,” Read told the latest edition of . “I haven’t spoken to anyone at the ECB for the best part of 13 months so I am not sure. I made a commitment to play in the ICL before any statement was made by the ECB.”And he admits that the legal path would be one to consider if his international hopes have been ended by the ICL. “That would be the natural course to take. I signed my ICL contract in good faith before the ECB had an official policy.”Read believes that as an out-of-contract county player he was free to choose how to fill his winter. Nottinghamshire do not provide 12-month deals for their players so he was a free agent at the time of the ICL last November.”The ICL was employment for me in the winter. I am a cricketer so I went out to play cricket, it looked competitive and it looked fun and that’s why I signed up,” he added.”I would like to play more cricket for the ICL but it is hard to commit because I still have England aspirations. If I am banned from playing international cricket, or unofficially banned, then I would be very disappointed and find that pretty harsh. By performing well with Nottinghamshire I hope I can still be in the frame.”

Interest in the Twenty20 Championships were piqued when Gujarat pulled off an upset of sorts, beating Punjab by 11 runs on a still, warm humid evening at the Brabourne Stadium. Powered by a sensible knock from Niraj Patel, who was unlucky not to becoming the second batsman to score a century in this tournament, falling short by seven runs, Gujarat posted a decent score and then bowled well enough to defend it.When they finished on 153 for 8 Gujarat probably had just enough on the board to make a fight of it. Punjab’s bowling attack had done well early on, but both the spinners and the medium-pacers failed to prise out Patel, who concentrated on running hard between the wickets, only going for the big shots when he had the room to free his arms and time the ball.Patel, who has been on the domestic scene for a while now, has always been an industrious sort of player. Small and not especially powerfully built, he has relied on working the ball into the gaps and picking up the ones and twos to keep the score ticking over. He did that especially well on the day, and perhaps the Punjab bowlers did not see him as a major threat because he doesn’t possess the really big shots.He was still good enough to his 12 fours and two sixes in his 65-ball 93. And when he was dismissed, in the first ball of the last over, it was through a bit of bad luck. Mohnish Parmar hit a return catch to Dinesh Mongia, who cleverly realised that Patel was backing up too much. Mongia made to drop the ball and effected the run out at the non-striker’s end. With no player appealing for the catch the umpires had no choice but to rule Patel out.There was a bit of confusion over who was dismissed – as per the laws of the game if a catch is taken cleanly the ball is then dead and there’s strictly no need for an appeal from the bowling side. However, the umpires reckoned that Mongia was not fully in control with of the ball soon after taking the catch, and that he had not held the catch, but in fact effected the run out. At any rate, it only dented Patel’s personal score, not Gujarat, who mustered 153.With a strong batting line-up and more than one international with some Twenty20 experience in the mix, Punjab should have had no difficulty chasing down the target. However, they did not, at any point, really get going, and with the highest partnership of the Punjab innings only amounting to 37, unbroken for the last wicket, there was never a time when they were ahead of the required rate.Parthiv Patel pulled off a terrific stumping off the medium pace of Hitesh Majmudar to account for Yuvraj Singh. Dinesh Mongia, who made 32, was bowled by Ashraf Makda. Harbhajan Singh tonked three sixes, but that only got the sparse crowd excited in vain as Punjab fell well short.

Ashley Mallett, the former Australia offspinner, has been hired as a consultant spin coach for Sri Lanka. Mallet is the third foreign expert to be hired by Sri Lanka following the appointments of the Australian Tom Moody as coach and the Zimbabwean Trevor Penney as assistant coach.In fact it was Moody, a fellow Australian, who recommended the appointment.Mallett, 60, has signed a three-year contract that will commit him to four two-week visits each year, with the first stint scheduled to start next week at the Max Cricket Academy in Colombo. His duties include coaching spinners from all levels in Sri Lanka and training other coaches, Sri Lanka Cricket explained.In 38 Tests for Australia, Mallett picked up 132 wickets at 29.84 and in a 183-match first-class career he claimed 693 wickets at 26.27.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Graeme Smith made an aggressive 68, but the International XI fell away when he went © Getty Images

MCC wrapped up a convincing 112-run win over an International XI, in the tsunami appeal match at Lord’s, as their spin bowlers collected nine wickets between them. Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Chris Gayle took three each after Brian Lara and Graeme Smith threatened to set up a thrilling finish.Brian Lara and Graeme Smith lit up Lord’s with some thrilling stroke play, adding 75 in just 8.1 overs as the asking rate was kept within reach, but once they both departed the rest of the International XI fell in something of a rush.Anil Kumble removed three key batsmen, including Lara as he got a leading edge that was comfortably taken at short third-man by Shoaib Akhtar (141 for 3). Lara faced 27 balls, hitting five fours and six – a stunning check-drive off Kumble – to all corners of Lord’s. He received a standing ovation as he returned to the pavilion, a rare sight for an innings of 42 – but it was special while it lasted.Smith was no slouch at the other end, but was left in the shade by Lara’s onslaught. He had an entertaining battle with Akhtar, who refused to give an inch and hit 95mph during his opening spell. But Smith, returning to the ground where he made 259 against England in 2003, punched and drove with confidence, reaching his half-century from 39 balls.Kumble struck back again for MCC when he drew Smith down the pitch and Kumar Sangakkara produced a swift bit of wicketkeeping (168 for 4). Kumble was using all his international experience and the contest between him and top quality batsmen gave the second half of this match an edge.Harbhajan Singh then got into the wicket taking act when he managed to squeeze a ball behind the legs of Shivnarine Chanderpaul (171 for 5). He then had Chris Cairns stumped, to remove the last realistic chance of the International XI reaching their target. There was a brief, mini, battle between Harbhajan and Shane Warne but Gayle wrapped up the tail, taking 3 for 28, with 15 overs to spare.But at least the crowd had been able to enjoy the stand between Lara and Smith, which enabled the International XI to recover from the early loss of Virendar Sehwag, trapped lbw by a ball that nipped backed from Shaun Pollock (10 for 1). Sanath Jayasuriya located the boundary with some powerful off-side shots, but found deep mid-wicket in Kumble’s first over (66 for 2), as the gamble of using a spinner within the first fifteen overs worked.Jacques Kallis received some tough treatment – three overs costing 33 – as Smith showed that familiarity can breed contempt. But Kallis had earlier starred with the bat as MCC piled up 327 for 7.

Stephen Fleming made a rapid 62 for MCC © Getty Images

Kallis made 62, the equal top score as Lara, leading the International XI, gave ten of his team – including himself – a bowl as the charity element of this match extended to the field. MCC’s middle-order all contributed useful runs, with Andy Flower making 55 from 39 balls, as he and Kumar Sangakkara added 84 in 9.2 overs to lift the total past 300.Warne – like his Australian team mates last night – came in for some harsh treatment, conceding 64 runs from his eight overs as Flower showed his usual collections of sweeps, nurdles and the occasional bludgeon. VVS Laxman, who has tormented Warne in Test cricket, used his wrists to good effect as he moved along at a run-a-ball before edging an attempted glide (220 for 5).MCC were given a solid platform as Stephen Fleming, their captain for the day, stroked an attractive 59-ball 62. Chaminda Vaas trapped Chris Gayle lbw in the fifth over when he played around a ball that didn’t quite bounce as high as Gayle was expecting (14 for 1).But Fleming’s offside stroke play was in top working order as he took advantage of some juicy half-volleys from Sami. Sourav Ganguly also unfurled his trademark, thumping, cover-drive but fell to Vaas, when he tried to cut a ball that was too close to his body (52 for 2).Fleming reached his half-century from 46 balls, including a loft square cut which sailed over backward point for six. It was a similar shot that brought his dismissal when he uppercut Chris Cairns to third-man (114 for 3). A team mate against a team mate was one of the novel aspects of the day and everything was done with a smile of the player’s faces.But this game was not really about the cricket and it was certainly played in the right spirit and, following from the first tsunami relief match in Melbourne, showed how cricket can come together to play a small part helping out those who suffered in a huge tragedy.

Retravision Warrior Murray Goodwin says he wants to focus on playing quality cricket for Western Australia in the wake of his reprimand from Cricket Australia.Cricket Australia Code of Behaviour Commissioner Mr Alan Sullivan QC yesterday reprimanded Goodwin for breaching Cricket Australia’s Code of Behaviour.Goodwin was charged by the Western Australian Cricket Association under Rule 9 of Section 1 of the Code for making detrimental public comment regarding the selection of the Zimbabwe Test team."The breach was not intended," Goodwin said."I value my working relationship with the WACA and the privilege of playing for WA. I would not wish to do anything that would damage that relationship."I’m now glad to put this matter behind me and concentrate on playing cricket."The case against Goodwin, due to be held before a full hearing in Sydney today but was brought forward after Goodwin advised of his intention to plead guilty.Mr Sullivan was asked to determine the question of penalty, if regarded as appropriate.Mr Sullivan found Goodwin’s comments were inappropriately timed and were potentially harmful to the interests of cricket. He took into account Goodwin’s genuine regret in making the comments and his prior record in handing down the verdict.He considered that Goodwin intended no malice in the comments he made.

DavidGraveney Photo CricInfo

England’s chairman of selectors, David Graveney, has confirmed that Darren Goughwill not be selected for the forthcoming Test series in New Zealand.Gough was omitted from the squad for the three-match series along with Surrey’s Alec Stewart after both players decided to miss the first part of the winter programme in India.Gough’s recent good form in India and New Zealand had led to speculation that England might ask him to stay on.”The players were offered a contract that encompassed two Test series in India and New Zealand,” Graveney said.”Darren decided he wanted a rest and that’s up to him. Therefore the squadswere chosen without him playing Test match cricket. He is an important guy but we have to stick to decisions that we have made.”There could be extreme circumstances with injuries or whatever – situationscould change. But at the present stage I am happy to let Duncan and Nasser get on with the cricket. Our situation hasn’t changed, whatever speculation there has been.”

Punjab qualified for the Semifinals of the Vijay Merchant Trophy thanks to the first innings lead over Saurashtra. Rahul Arora missed out on the double century as he got out at 195. Arora was severe on Saurashtra bowling smashing 6 sixes and 19 fours in his 267 balls. He was given good support by T Kanish who made 88 (2 sixes, 6 fours) as they put on 198 for the seventh wicket in 45 overs. Punjab were all out for 493 in the 117th over. S Padhiyar picked up three of the four wickets to fall on the third day. At the close of play Saurashtra were 197/5 in 50 overs in their second innings. BM Chauhan made 46 and A Sinha 38 to steady the innings after losing J Yadav for a duck. S Padhiyar was inbeaten on 35 with CA Pujara on 32. Vipul Sharma picked up 3/26 to take the match tally to 8/69.

Liverpool transfer target Gavi is almost certain to sign a new deal with current club Barcelona, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.

The Lowdown: Liverpool talks

The 17-year-old, hailed as “terrific” by Italy boss Roberto Mancini, has emerged as one of the most exciting young players in world football, already making a total of 35 appearances for Barca, racking up five assists from midfield.

Liverpool made contact to sign the La Masia graudate in an audacious move recently, as Jurgen Klopp looks to build towards the long-term future, with reports even claiming he had been identified as a long-term successor for Thiago.

The young Spaniard’s current deal only runs until 2023, opening the door for interested parties like the Reds to being talks, but a key update has now emerged regarding the matter.

The Latest: New Barca deal expected

Taking to Twitter on Thursday, Romano claimed that a new contract is a given at Barca and it will be agreed later this year:

“Barcelona have Gavi’s new contract almost ready since December. It’s matter of time to complete the proposal and then enter into final details. Club still more than optimistic to get his contract extension signed this year.”

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-liverpool-transfer-news-26/” title=”Latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Verdict: No great surprise

While the idea of Gavi joining Liverpool was a mouthwatering one, it always felt highly unlikely, with his future always looking like being at Barca.

He is a special talent and the Catalan giants were simply never going to allow his contract to run down, having become the youngest-ever player to represent Spain last year.

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Along with Pedri, it could be that Gavi is the poster boy for the next great era at the Camp Nou and it may be that Liverpool end up coming up against their former target in key Champions League matches.

In other news, a journalist has shared a big update on another Liverpool target. Read more here.

Scorecard

	Dwayne Bravo scored 62 in Trinidad & Tobago’s win over St Vincent © Stanford 20/20

St Vincent and the Grenadines made a meal of the target set by Trinidad & Tobago and handed them a 59-run win and a spot in the semi-finals of the Stanford 20/20.Dwayne Bravo plundered 62 off 34 balls and added 86 with William Perkins (56) to revive the T&T innings following a poor start. T&T had scored 55 for 3 in the first ten overs. By the 15th – with Bravo and Perkins on the offensive – 55 more were added without the loss of any wicket. Bravo hit a six and two fours off Romel Currency’s first over that went for 18 runs. But the T&T batsmen’s urgency to score runs was evident though ill-advised with four of the seven wickets falling to run-outs. Keon Peters was St Vincent’s most successful bowler, removing Perkins and Bravo in successive overs.St Vincent’s chase was checked right from the second ball when opener Miles Bascombe was caught off Mervyn Dillon for a duck. It hit further snags on the way and at the end of the first ten overs St Vincent were 37 for 6.Legspinner Samuel Badree dried up the runs, conceding only nine from his four overs, and took two wickets off successive deliveries. Deighton Butler was St Vincent’s top scorer with an unbeaten 33.On February 15 T&T will play the winner of the match between Barbados and Grenada to fight for a spot in the final.