'There's a problem' - Insider reveals fresh DCL concern at Everton after four-month lay-off

Dominic Calvert-Lewin is suffering in an ‘unrecognisable’ Everton team, insider Dean Jones has told GiveMeSport.

The England striker was the Toffees’ top scorer last season with 21 goals, a full eight clear of his nearest challenger Richarlison.

However, injury has limited him to just nine Premier League appearances so far this season – from the end of August until the New Year, a fractured toe kept the 24-year-old on the sidelines.

Calvert-Lewin had scored three goals in three games prior to that injury layoff, but he hasn’t been able to find the net in his seven outings since.

Jones recalled that Calvert-Lewin started the season strongly but says he hasn’t been able to rediscover that form because Everton have since collapsed into a relegation battle.

The journalist told GiveMeSport: “I do think there’s a problem here in terms of Calvert-Lewin coming back into an Everton team that are unrecognisable from where he was at the start of the season when he was scoring goals.”

Calvert-Lewin’s early goals helped Everton to pick up seven points from the first nine available, but remarkably, they have only taken 13 points from their 23 matches since.

Expected goal data from Understat shows that, in the defeats against Brighton (when he amassed 0.95 xG without scoring) and Aston Villa (0.56), Calvert-Lewin’s finishing has somewhat let him down.

However, there are other recent games where you could argue that the supply simply hasn’t been there. In fact, since Frank Lampard took over, the 24-year-old been limited to a maximum of 0.13 xG per game.

It’s tempting to wonder if we are witnessing the final knockings of Calvert-Lewin’s Goodison Park career. With Everton teetering on the verge of the relegation zone and Champions