Tarkowski's record dashed by season-ending injury
Everton will be without captain James Tarkowski for the rest of the season, as the defender's hopes of setting a new Premier League record were dashed.
Tarkowski suffered a hamstring injury during last week's defeat to Manchester City at Goodison Park.
The 32-year-old was taken off and replaced by Michael Keane as Everton succumbed to its third league defeat in David Moyes' second spell in charge.
The former Burnley centre-back will not play again this season, Moyes confirmed ahead of Everton's trip to Chelsea.
That means Tarkowski, who had made 111 successive Premier League starts, will fall just short of setting a new record for consecutive starts in the competition among outfielders.
It is a record held by Wayne Bridge, who started 113 straight Premier League games for Southampton between March 2000 and January 2003.
Frank Lampard, who signed Tarkowski during his stint as Everton boss, made 112 league starts in a row for Chelsea between December 2002 and December 2005.
Tarkowski has played every single top-flight match since he joined Everton in 2022, with the previous time he missed a Premier League match coming towards the end of the 2021-2022 campaign when he was at Burnley.
Former Liverpool, Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Brad Friedel holds the all-time record for successive Premier League starts, with 310.
