Everton have had their fair share of injury problems this season, which has had a huge impact on the team in terms of inconsistent performances, and now the side have found themselves struggling for safety in the league, just four points off the relegation zone.
The club have a number of tough fixtures ahead of them, with a clash against the league Champions, Manchester City coming up this weekend at Goodison Park, in a game that will be the biggest tactical challenge Lampard has faced in his short tenure as the Toffees boss so far, with the Manchester club losing fewer games than Everton have even won this season so far.
The three-time Premier League title winner turned coach, has developed a winning mentality over his years of success as a player at Chelsea, and will not want to lose to Pep Guardiola's side at the weekend, and will likely feel like he has a point to prove that he can inject that winning focus into his team from the sideline too.
With that being said, Lampard will be thrilled that Abdoulaye Doucoure has returned from injury after he was sidelined against Aston Villa early into the new year, and has not been available to play since the ex-Derby manager joined the club on Deadline Day last month.
Doucoure, who Carlos Ancelotti claimed was the "complete midfielder", has been one of the most consistent and effective midfielders in the team this season for Everton, scoring two goals and assisting his teammates four times in 18 appearances so far.
The £22.5m-rated midfielder offers both offensive and defensive attributes that Lampard can deploy in his team against Manchester City, winning the majority of his duels (51%), successful in the majority of his dribbles (55%) and making 2.1 tackles per game on average, as recorded by SofaScore.
Lampard has already said himself that he wasn't happy with how the midfield played against Southampton in the defeat last weekend, with the manager taking to his post-match interview to reflect on changes and confirm the potential of Doucoure's return.
The Toffees manager said:
“Doucoure might be close to being fit for the game, and that will give me different midfield options. We weren’t good enough in midfield today. That’s the job for us in the week to get right.”
As a result of the blunt admission on the problems Lampard feels the team had last weekend, we expect him to make significant changes against Manchester City and the return of Doucoure could be one that hugely benefits the team in the tough games ahead in the last months of the season.
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