Everton are waiting to hear the extent of Yerry Mina’s knee injury. The 25-year-old suffered a knock against West Ham United on Saturday, colliding with Jordan Pickford in injury time. Mina tried to see the game out, but he was eventually replaced by Mason Holgate and was expected to have tests on Monday.
The Colombian international will be a loss to Marco Silva. Everton are short of cover at centre-back and have nobody able to replace Mina other than Holgate – and the 23-year-old hasn’t been in the best form either. Silva will be desperate to have his first-choice centre-back in time to face Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, but it all depends on his diagnosis.
Mina has been a regular alongside Michael Keane this season, making nine Premier League appearances. As per WhoScored, he’s won 38 aerial duels (55%), averaged 54.2 passes-per-game with 83.8% accuracy, blocked 10 shots/passes, made 38 clearances and averaged a tackle (12) or interception (15) every 30 minutes.
With Keane’s form being inconsistent at times, Mina is essential at the heart of the defence. Only five clubs have conceded more goals than Everton (13), but they picked up a long-awaited clean sheet over the weekend.