Tony Gale says he fears Everton’s Premier League form will be affected.
Everton’s Ross Barkley in action with Norwich City’s Louis Thompson
Everton suffered a surprise home defeat to Norwich City last night in the third round of the EFL Cup.
Goals from former Evertonian Steven Naismith and young talent Josh Murphy gave the Canaries a 2-0 win at Goodison Park.
It was the first time in six cup matches against Premier League opposition while a Football League club that Norwich had emerged victorious.
Everton’s Idrissa Gueye in action with Norwich City’s Kyle Lafferty
The result was even more of a surprise considering Everton’s outstanding start to the season, which has had manager Ronald Koeman fielding questions in his press conference whether they could ‘do a Leicester’ and win the league.
Everton sit second in the league having won their last four games, but former West Ham and Fulham player Tony Gale believes this defeat could derail their progress.
He told Sky Sports’ live coverage: “I’m really surprised by this performance. Everton really had it going. I fear this will knock the stuffing out of them.”
It will be up to Ronald Koeman to lift his players, although he will have the luxury of making changes ahead of the weekend fixture away to Bournemouth.
Yannick Bolasie, Romelu Lukaku, Kevin Mirallas and Gareth Barry were all left out completely or started on the bench, but several first team players like Idrissa Gueye, Ross Barkley and Ashley Williams did feature from kick-off.
Everton manager Ronald Koeman and Norwich City manager Alex Neil
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