Branthwaite, Patterson, Broja: Everton injury news and return dates as they prepare to face Aston Villa

Everton have endured an extremely difficult start to the season and currently sit bottom of the early Premier League table without a point to their name following the late collapse at home to Bournemouth last weekend – but at least Sean Dyche and his squad can try to regroup after the international break. The bad news, however, is that they may still be missing several key players when they face Aston Villa next weekend.

Jarrad Branthwaite and Nathan Patterson are among the doubts for the game at Villa Park, while deadline day signing Armando Broja is a concern as well – we’ve got all the latest news on their conditions and expected return dates below.

On the plus side, several players are back in full training after recent knocks, including Seamus Coleman, James Tarkowski and Idrissa Gueye, all of whom featured in the 3-2 reverse at Goodison Park on Saturday, and midfielder James Garner, who has yet to feature this season. The players mentioned below, however, may well miss out…

Jarrad Branthwaite

Having held onto their star defender despite interest from Manchester United this summer, Everton have yet to be able to make use of the England international due to his ongoing recovery from surgery to repair a hernia which had been troubling him since the end of the 2023/24 season.

The surgery was reportedly successful but he is still not back in full training and isn’t expected to play against Villa either, with Dyche telling the press after the Bournemouth match that the 22-year-old was “not there yet.” No specific return date has been provided, but there is a widespread expectation that he will be back by early October.

Nathan Patterson

Another crucial defender who has been unavailable so far, the Scotland right-back suffered a serious hamstring injury in pre-season which also required an operation. Dyche also included Patterson in his comment about Branthwaite being unavailable and no specific return date has been set.

It is also not believed that either defender will be able to play in planned behind-closed-doors matches during the break which are expected to be organised to help players build up fitness, including Dele Alli, who is training with the club and may be offered a new short-term contract as he looks to rebuild his career.

Armando Broja

The Albanian striker was signed on loan from Chelsea on transfer deadline day but may not be able to play immediately due to a problem picked up during a pre-season tour of the United States, which was reported by the Daily Mail as being related to his Achilles.

That injury scuppered a proposed move to Ipswich Town and BBC Sport reported that he would need “a period of rehabilitation” following a failed medical, but Everton decided to press on with the signing regardless. The club have not offered a specific return date but initial speculation as to the extent of the injury while he was at Chelsea suggested that he would be out for six or seven weeks at least, which would indicate a mid-October return.

Youssef Chermiti

The former Sporting striker looked promising in pre-season but hasn’t been able to play in the Premier League yet as the result of a foot injury which required surgery in early August.

As with Branthwaite and Patterson, no official timeframe for a return has been provided but speculation in the local media suggests that the 20-year-old Portuguese will be out until the end of September at least.