View: Postponement could work in Everton’s favour after Doucoure suspension blow
Abdoulaye Doucoure has been a vital cog in the Everton side since his summer switch but his booking at Wolves has created a midfield dilemma for Carlo Ancelotti.
His yellow card in the 2-1 win at Wolves on Tuesday means Doucoure will now miss Everton’s next Premier League game after accruing a fifth booking of the campaign which warrants a one-game suspension.
This was set to be Sunday’s clash at Aston Villa but this game has now been postponed after a request from the Midlands side with many of their first-team players and staff still in isolation following a coronavirus outbreak at the club recently.
This means Everton have another nine days before their next match against Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup on January 23, while their next Premier League fixture is not until January 27 when they host Leicester City.
With Doucoure unavailable for Everton’s next league clash it looked like Andre Gomes would be set to assume responsibilities in the centre of midfield alongside Tom Davies but the impending return of a certain Brazilian might put paid to those hopes.
Allan was brought in from Napoli over the summer having worked with Ancelotti at the Serie A side during the Italian’s tenure at the club, and he has been a snarling presence in midfield who has taken to English football with supreme ease.
However, he came off injured in the 2-0 win at Leicester on December 16 and has been absent ever since, missing the last six games as Davies has stepped up to cover for him.
It has been a mixed bag for Davies since his promotion to the starting XI and he has struggled to really assert himself in the midfield.
The thought of Davies and Gomes lining up together against Leicester is one that might have had Blues fans fearing the worst after Saturday’s shocking display against Rotherham United.
In the FA Cup clash at Goodison Park, the pair were expected to dominate the midfield against the struggling Championship side but they failed to do anything of the sort as the visitors took the game to extra time before Everton edged them out 2-1.
The winning goal was scored by Doucoure who had stepped off the bench to replace Davies in the second half and it showed the difference in levels between the first-team mainstays and the second-string hopefuls.
Gomes did come off the bench at Wolves and produce a delightful cross for Michael Keane to head home the winner but he has shown himself to be an inconsistent figure who is unable to take a firm grip of the midfield in any sense, either physically or through his passing.
As such, Everton fans might well be relieved that the Villa game has been called off and that the pedestrian Gomes and Davies are not tasked with containing the the in-form Jack Grealish who has lit up the Premier League this season with his superb dribbling displays.
The defensive abilities of Allan and Doucoure are shown in their 3.4 and 1.9 tackles per game in the Premier League compared to the 1.3 and 1.2 produced by Davies and Gomes (WhoScored).
Ancelotti recently revealed that he expected Allan to be available for selection before the end of January so Blues will be hopeful that he will now be able to replace Doucoure in the midfield against a Leicester side they are locked on points with as they both target a European finish this season.
It is an area that Everton may need to look at and reinforce for cover but, for now, they must hope that Allan makes an imminent return to the side to cover for the deficiencies of Davies and Gomes.
The Villa postponement might be a blessing in disguise for the Blues midfield.
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