Adam Aznou of Everton during the pre-season friendly match between Everton and AS Roma at Hill Dickinson Stadium on August 09, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)placeholder image
Adam Aznou of Everton during the pre-season friendly match between Everton and AS Roma at Hill Dickinson Stadium on August 09, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Adam Aznou absence explained after Everton controversially lost their opening game of the 2025-26 Premier League season.
Everton have revealed why Adam Aznou was absent from the match-day squad for the loss against Leeds United.
The Toffees opened the 2025-26 Premier League campaign with a 1-0 defeat at Elland Road. But the game was mired in controversy, with David Moyes’ visitors conceding a penalty in the 82nd minute when James Tarkowski was adjudged to have handled inside his area.
The Everton captain’s left arm was next to his torso when blocking Anton Stach’s shot yet Chris Kavanagh awarded a spot-kick and VAR agreed. Leeds striker Lukas Nmecha stepped up and scored.
The Blues were lacklustre for much of the game and lacked attacking spark. But the away side were depleted of options, particularly in defence. Key man Jarrad Branthwaite suffered a hamstring injury in training, while Vitalii Mykolenko did not recover from a groin problem. In addition, fellow left-back Adam Aznou, signed for £8 million from Bayern Munich earlier this summer, was absent. Therefore, James Garner had to operate as a makeshift full-back and the relatively inexperienced Tim Iroegbunam featured in midfield.
On the lack of defensive options, Moyes told Sky Sports: “It certainly didn’t help. We have lost a couple of important players for us but we’re not using it as any excuses. We’ve got lots of games to come. Other teams will have injuries at other times of the season. Unfortunately, we picked up a couple at the moment.”
Then asked why he opted for Garner at left-back, Moyes said at his pre-match press conference: “We had to play somebody there, didn’t we? Jimmy is relatively flexible so we didn’t have another chance, really. We have lost two of our better players in the back four. Other teams will lose players at different times of the season. We have lost a couple at the start which is a blow.”
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