Here are your Everton morning headlines for Monday, October 26.
Hasenhuttl on Digne and Godfrey
League leaders Everton suffered their first defeat of the season yesterday as they went down 2-0 to Southampton.
First half goals from James Ward-Prowse and Che Adams gave the Blues an uphill task to take anything from the match, and their chances of doing so diminished further when Lucas Digne was sent off with 18 minutes left.
Carlo Ancelotti has described the decision to dismiss the left-back as “a joke” but his Southampton counterpart didn’t see things that way.
"It was a clear red card for me,” Saints’ manager Ralph Hasenhuttl said after the match.
The Austrian was also asked if his side had targeted stand in right-back Ben Godfrey during the match, and you can read his comments here .
Tight timeframe for Digne appeal
Digne was dismissed at St. Marys Stadium yesterday for a foul on Kyle Walker-Peters, and as it was a straight red card he will now be suspended for three matches.
Everton will look to appeal the decision - with the trio of games he is set to miss including a clash with Manchester United.
And they need to get a move on as they only have until 1pm today to lodge their appeal. The process and timeframe for the procedure is explained in more detail here .
Talking points from Southampton
While their first loss of the campaign doesn’t undermine the fantastic start Everton have made to the 2020/21 season, the defeat at Southampton will clearly have given Ancelotti plenty to ponder after his side were comprehensively outplayed.
Have teams figured out how to blunt the impact of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, after the red hot striker didn’t have a single shot in the match? Have the performances of Seamus Coleman been underrated, and how will the Blues compensate for his absence in future?
Adam Jones considers these issues, as well as Everton’s disciplinary problems, and he also puts their excellent season so far into context in this excellent post-match round-up .
