Frank Lampard: Dele Alli could provide solution to Everton’s striker dilemma

Frank Lampard believes Dele Alli could be the remedy for his striker headache in Everton’s Premier League opener against Chelsea.

Lampard heads into Saturday’s evening fixture at Goodison Park without a recognised central attacker after Dominic Calvert-Lewin was ruled out for six weeks with a knee injury.

Salomon Rondon is suspended for the visit of Lampard’s former club, while Richarlison has been sold to Tottenham.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin will miss his side’s opener against Chelsea (Barrington Coombs/PA)

Alli has started only once since his January switch from Spurs, but Lampard said: “Dele made his name as a second striker, in my opinion, with Harry Kane at Tottenham.

“They had some great years together. He may be moved back as the years went on, generally to become more of a number eight or a more structured midfield player.

“But he is certainly in the running as a solution.”

Everton avoided relegation to the Championship on the penultimate day of last season after coming from two goals behind to win at Crystal Palace.

Dwight McNeil, James Tarkowski and Ruben Vinagre have bolstered Everton’s squad for the new campaign.

But Lampard, who took over from the sacked Rafael Benitez in January, has warned that his side must improve to avoid another relegation scrap.

“We must work on every side of our game to be sure that we are not in a situation like we were in last season,” said the 44-year-old.

“It’s nice to have a relative clean slate. I never felt that we had that in my period at the club and that is important, because it should hopefully give us a fresh idea and feeling of confidence.

Winger Dwight McNeil has joined Everton from Burnley (Nick Potts/PA)

“We are all level, while at times last year it felt like we were chasing, especially if you’re five points from safety. That’s something we overcame and that’s testament to the group of players we have, the club and fans.

“There are still things I want us to do going forward to try to make us play more the way I want us to play – to be more consistent in what we can deliver.

“That will be a mixture of work on the training pitch and the players we can hopefully strengthen the squad with.

“We are working on and off the pitch and trying to improve the club in any way possible. There are a lot of good people at the club, but we have to get the culture right and move forward. We have to keep this unified feeling we have.”