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Everton will be looking to chain their third consecutive Premier League win with a win over Arsenal on Saturday night, but will have to do it without James Rodriguez as he has not recovered in time to face the Gunners.
Having been struggling with a series of annoying complaints in recent weeks, the Colombian was expected to return for the clash against Leicester, but that was not the case.
Carlo Ancelotti has made it clear that he is unwilling to risk the form of the former Real Madrid player, although he could play a role in the upcoming Carabao Cup quarter-final tie with Manchester United on 23 December.
“Not yet,” Ancelotti confirmed when asked about James in his pre-match press conference.
“It’s too early for us to put him at risk. He’s working and I hope he can be available for the United game.”
Having missed the last three games, in which Everton have had positive results, the Italian manager was forced to respond if he felt his team were better defensively without James.
“No, I don’t think so,” he said, laughing.
“We had three clean sheets and it is true that two clean sheets were where James was not, but it is also true that the first clean sheet we had in the season was one of the most difficult rivals, that is, Tottenham with two fantastic forwards. ” .
“I think we’ve had periods where we didn’t defend well as a team.
“The skill of our defense does not depend on whether James is there or not.
“It depends on how focused we are and the fact that we need to work together.”
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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