Everton: 3 Takeaways from the dominating win against Leicester City

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Allan injured his hamstring and could be out for long term.

2. How will Allan’s injury effect Everton?

This one has to be a hard blow for Evertonians. After being the pitbull in Everton’s midfield and becoming one of the most important players in Ancelotti’s squad, Allan is struck down by a hamstring injury that led to him being stretchered off the pitch.

The Brazilian has been fantastic all year for Everton, and even though he’s had his mistakes, the midfielder has produced much more good than bad, providing the defence with a safety blanket due to his engine and tackling ability.

It will be hard for Everton to get the same production out of any other player because the Toffees don’t have anybody who can arguably play that Allan role. The good thing for Everton is they have a few alternatives that the blues could work with until Allan’s return.

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One of these is to slide Doucoure over to the Allan role in more of a defensive midfield position. The problem with this is that the Frenchman isn’t nearly as agile as Allan and even though he has pace and power, he doesn’t have the defensive knowledge to be able to keep up with the tricky feet of some players in the Premier League like Allan can.

Another option is to move Mason Holgate into that defensive midfield role. All fans know that Holgate can do a job in defensive midfield, and after impressing at right-back in this two-game stretch then there’s a chance Ancelotti may trust Holgate with a more advanced role, especially with Coleman returning according to the Italian.

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Holgate is arguably Everton’s most technical defender, he can pick the ball up and move forwards with it, as shown by his link-up with Iwobi in the Chelsea game, has a great pass and has proven to have the grit and passion to replace Allan.

Andre Gomes also stepped up and performed quite admirably when he came on against Leicester, and even though the argument is there that he isn’t the same ever since his injury against Spurs, he still has clear quality that’s hard to miss.

If Gomes came in then Doucoure would definitely take up the more defensive role and that may allow Gomes to express himself if given a more free role in midfield. Gomes will also have to battle with Tom Davies who impressed at wing-back when he was given the chance.

It’s going to be a hard few weeks for Everton if this injury is as bad as Evertonians expected, but one clear thing is the Royal Blues have the depth to deal with this injury. Midfield is the Toffees most deep position and it means that they can handle an injury like this, the only problem is the effect losing Allan could have on the squad, and with big games like Manchester City coming up in December, now was a horrible time to lose one of Everton’s most important players.