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Why was Digne left out of Everton’s win over Arsenal?

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Lucas Digne was not included in the playing XI for the Arsenal game on Monday night, and there was a specific reason behind it.

Last gameweek’s Monday Night Football brought an unforeseen result as Everton came out as winners against Arsenal. However, important defender Lucas Digne was left out of the squad by Rafa Benitez.

Martin Odegaard scored the opening goal of the match in the injury-time of the first 45 minutes. But, the Toffees saw a brilliant comeback as Richarlison and Demarai Gray assured the victory.

The three points also ended the eight-match winless run for Everton as they move up the bottom half of the Premier League table.

Surprisingly, one star that was not seen on the field was left-back Lucas Digne, who was replaced by a central defender, Ben Godfrey. 

Anyone would suspect that the Frenchman must have suffered from a last-minute injury. Although, there was another reason for his absence from this important clash.

An explanation from The Athletic stated: “It is understood that Digne was not injured for the match. Nor was he “unavailable” in any operative sense of the word.”

“Any suggestion that he was left out even as a temporary precaution has been flatly rejected. Instead, he was omitted after his already fractious relationship with Benitez took another turn for the worse.”

It has also been written that Digne has not been satisfied with the way things are under Benitez. Moreover, the pair had a disagreement in Spanish before the Arsenal game, and the France international was then excluded from the match.

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