Carlo Ancelotti may have gotten under Liverpool's skin after comment on Lucas Digne's Red card against Southampton

The Everton manager believes referee's decision to show Digne a red card was influenced by the heavy criticism about poor officiating that followed last weekend Merseyside derby

Everton's Richarlison was sent off against Liverpool last week for a very poor tackle on Thiago Alcantara, while Jordan Pickford avoided punishment for putting in a dreadful challenge on Virgil van Dijk, which saw him badly injured.

Pickford's challenge and Henderson's late winner which was cancelled for offside later attracted criticism after the game that in the end saw VAR official David Coote suspended from duty.

In Sunday's Premier League match against Southampton French full-back Lucas Digne was shown a straight red card for a clumsy challenge on Kyle Walker-Peters in the match the Saints won 2-0.

Digne was running behind the Southampton man and seemed to accidentally tread on his ankle, which looked bad on replays and was unlucky for the Everton player.

Ancelotti certainly didn’t agree with the referee’s decision believing there may have been influencing factors from the Merseyside derby.

EVERTON DOWN TO TEN MEN 🔴

Lucas Digne is given his marching orders for raking down the back of Kyle Walker-Peters' leg.

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"It was a joke – it was not intentional," the Everton boss told Sky Sports about the red card. "It was not violent conduct so they could’ve checked better.

"Maybe all the rumours during the week against [Jordan] Pickford and against Richarlison affected the decision, and if it is like this, it’s not right. It’s not fair.

"I think we're going to appeal. It could be a yellow card but it wasn't violent conduct and the red card was unfair.

"It was not a bad challenge I saw – it was not intentional as he was running behind and he had a contact with the ankle of the opponent but he didn’t have the intention to use violent conduct, so it was not the right decision."