One of Liverpool’s forthcoming opponents could be hampered by a significant blow for their fixture against Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Everton’s 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Sunday was overshadowed not just by a controversial tweet from the Midlands club over the standard of officiating, but also a worrying head injury to Toffees striker Beto.
The £50,000-per-week forward was carried off on a stretcher in added time after a sickening clash with Morgan Gibbs-White, requiring eight minutes of treatment on the pitch as Goodison Park fell silent.
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As reported by Liverpool World, Sean Dyche’s side are awaiting the diagnosis from that incident to determine whether or not the 26-year-old suffered a concussion. FA guidelines stipulate a four-stage recovery process, each of which requires a minimum of 24 hours, before being cleared for a return to play.
Therefore, if Beto is found to have been concussed yesterday, he’ll be ruled out of the Merseyside derby on Wednesday night.
Given the chequered injury history of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and the need for eight more points to guarantee their Premier League survival, Beto’s absence in midweek would be a significant setback for Everton.
A return of five goals in 35 appearances for the Toffees mightn’t seem particularly intimidating, but the majority of those have come as a substitute (Transfermarkt), and the 6 foot 4 powerhouse could occupy Liverpool’s defence with his physique if he were to feature in the derby.
However, nothing is more important than the health and wellbeing of the player, and under no circumstances can anything be left to chance when it comes to the possibility of concussion.
Hopefully Beto’s injury isn’t serious and that he can get back playing as soon as possible, with that to be determined by the diagnosis from yesterday’s collision at Goodison Park.