Everton fell to defeat on Saturday night as they were beaten 2-1 at home by Aston Villa.
The Toffees were hoping for a win to bolster their European hopes, but fell behind when Ollie Watkins picked Mason Holgate’s pocket to open the scoring.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin showed his aerial presence by hanging in the air to bury Lucas Digne’s corner, bringing Everton level – but it just wasn’t to be for the Toffees.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men fell to defeat as Anwar El Ghazi curled home a fine winner for Villa, leaving Everton nine points off the top four.
Europa League qualification could still happen for Everton, but this defeat certainly wasn’t ideal for them, and neither was the injury to James Rodriguez.
The Colombian ace was named in the starting lineup for Saturday’s game, but pulled out late in the warm-up with Alex Iwobi coming into the side.
Rodriguez suffered a calf knock, and has left Everton fans worrying that he could be missing for another extended spell having endured frustrating absences this term.
However, Ancelotti has told the Liverpool Echo that he predicts Rodriguez to be back to face West Ham United next weekend.
“I think he had a little problem. He was not comfortable to play,” said Ancelotti. “I think he is going to play in the next game. It was a really small problem,” he added.
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