Everton at Aston Villa: Live | Gomes & Iwobi on
Gomes #Gomes
72’ – Grealish is on for Traore now. How the Blues need a playmaker like him.
He combines well with Targett to win a corner, Villa’s ninth of the game. Targett outswinger met by Elmohamady and it’s over.
Coleman exits now with Alex Iwobi coming on, on the same wing that Grealish is on.
69’ – Delightful pass from Richy comes to Gomes and he plays himself into space well, dummies, turns and then fires waywardly. Argh.
Davies controls the ball with his shoulder/arm, and Ramsey’s shot is blocked for a corner. Corner is cleared, but you can imagine if they scored off that there would be some very angry Blues.
67’ – The Blues first change is no surprise, with Andre Gomes on for Sigurdsson. The Icelander has done precious little today.
65’ – Barkley’s game is over, coming off for Jacob Ramsey. His first action is to drive past Keane, who shoulders the youngster off the ball.
63’ – DCL wins a freekick in midfield, Sigurdsson’s cross into the box is met by Holgate, Martinez collects.
60’ – Everton attack but Villa can clear Digne’s cross. Ball comes to Sigurdsson and he’s easily eased off it by McGinn.
Now Davis wins a freekick on the edge of the box, it’s to the Everton right. El Ghazi is going to take, it’s at Pickford and he prefers to punch it out for a corner.
Barkley to take, low and outside the box and Traore wafts his shot way over, even worse than when he did the same thing in the first half.
57’ – Good run from El Ghazi getting Holgate all mixed up and it takes Godfrey coming across to clear it for a corner. Barkley to take… lots of argy-bargy and the ball falls right in the six-yard box and Everton block then clear.
54’ – Digne cross and Martinez gets to it just before DCL can. Blues doing some more attacking now.
Sigurdsson loses the ball and then tugs Luiz back. Is booked for that, deservedly so.
51’ – Coleman bundled over by John McGinn, about the same spot as his previous freekick. Scoops it to the far post this time and Godfrey’s gets a boot to it that Martinez parries away for a corner, Everton’s first of the game.
Digne’s corner is cleared and foul by Holgate holding Martinez anyway, with the goalie going to ground. What is Holgate doing there?!
47’ – Good chance to start the second half as Everton can build up near the Villa box, ball eventually comes to Doucoure whose poor shot is blocked and cleared.
DCL in space behind the Villa line, Martinez saves the shot but the flag was up.
46’ – Second half underway. Dean Smith sharing a laugh with John Terry while Carlo Ancelotti is sat scowling in the dugout. That should tell you the story of the game.
Halftime Thoughts – Everton are intent on keeping their defensive shape above all, and will rely on the counter attack for any offense. They’ve lost the ball too easily a number of times, but maybe only slightly better than the last time they played Villa.
45+3’ – Halftime whistle blows, still 0-0 here.
45+1’ – Richy tries to run through two defenders who shepherd the ball back to Martinez.
DCL is down holding his knee, and Cash is down again after getting hurt earlier in the half. The one minute added on has elapsed as players receive attention. Looks like Cash’ game is over and ElMohamady is on for him. DCL runs back onto the pitch too.
44’ – Digne is receiving attention after a sliding clearance from Matty Cash. Looks like the Villa player’s knee catching an onrushing Digne. That was an unfortunate collision, no foul.
42’ – Holgate blocks an El Ghazi cross for a corner. Barkley pulls it outside the box for a Luiz shot, wayward.
Traore theatrically dives in the box and Atkinson has no patience with him, booking him.
40’ – Straight ball from Keane finds Sigurdsson who plays Richarlison through but the Brazilian loses the ball with two defenders closing.
37’ – McGinn turns Allan and finds Barkley in a position to shoot, blocked. Ball comes back to Barkley outside the box and he miscues it, Everton can clear their lines.
Coleman cross-field ball finds Digne, who whips in a delightful cross, Calvert-Lewin was very close to getting on the end of that.
33’ – Douglas Luiz makes an excellent run up the left and Godfrey clears for a corner. Taken short and then whipped in by Barkley, cleared by Richarlison.
Richarlison with a chance to shoot from the edge of the box, gets a half-yard of space but can’t wrap his left foot around the ball and it goes wide.
30’ – DCL heads on a long ball and Cash catches Richarlison on the heel. Freekick says Martin Atkinson, about 30 yards out from a just-left position. Sigurdsson takes it, around the wall and straight at Martinez. Not enough power or guile there.
27’ – Everton still struggling to get out of their half and string a few passes together in the Villa half.
Now a Villa freekick from a dangerous area on the Everton left. Targett’s ball into the box is put out for a corner by Richarlison. Taken short and overcooked, Allan clears.
20’ – Another attacking opportunity as Coleman breaks down the right, his looping cross is miscontrolled by DCL and Vila can clear.
The rain is getting heavier and the ball is moving around quite fast now. El Ghazi has a chance to shoot but it’s over, Pickford quite unhappy with how much space he had there.
17’ – Matt Targett cross is cleared for a corner by Digne. Barkley to take, DCL heads it on and Douglas Luiz’ low cross is headed narrowly wide by an unmarked Tyrone Mings, no idea how he missed the target. Whew.
15’ – Digne cross just over Richarlison, Coleman’s return cross is lofted and though DCL gets his head on it, can’t get any power behind it and Martinez collects.
12’ – Doucoure has been quiet by his own standards, working himself back into the game slowly. Allan has been involved in everything so far, both defensively and attacking.
10’ – First concerted attack starts with Godfrey setting off on a run through the middle, but Coleman’s cross is too close to Emiliano Martinez.
First shot on goal is from Villa, with Bertrand Traore hitting one first-time from outside the box, straight at Jordan Pickford.
8’ – Everton are having some difficulty getting the ball out of the back with Villa’s press, long balls have been the way to get out of their own half so far.
5’ – It’s Mason Holgate on the right and Ben Godfrey on the left of Michael Keane in the middle. In midfield, Allan at the base, Doucoure on the right and Sigurdsson on the left. Richarlison is on the left and Dominic Calvert-Lewin on the right upfront.
2’ – Seamus Coleman pushed backwards by Ross Barkley, and the captain concedes a corner. Blocked and then allowed to run out of play by Gylfi Sigurdsson.
1’ – Underway at Villa Park.
Carlo Ancelotti has gone with Abdoulaye Doucoure in the middle replacing Tom Davies, in a 3-5-2 formation.
Everton
Pickford, Coleman, Holgate, Keane, Godfrey, Digne, Doucoure, Allan, Sigurdsson, Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin
Subs: Olsen, Virginia, Nkounkou, Delph, Gomes, Davies, Iwobi, Bernard, King
Aston Villa
Martínez, Cash, Konsa Ngoyo, Mings(c), Targett, McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Traoré, Barkley, El Ghazi, Davis
Subs: Grealish, Philogene-Bidace, Steer, Ramsey, Nakamba, Ahmed El Mohamady, Chukwuemeka, Hause, Wesley
The top four positions in the Premier League table seem pretty clear, but there’s only a handful of points separating the sides from fifth down to ninth. Everton have four games left to play, and securing at least a couple of wins in those fixtures could go a long way towards ensuring European football next season.
That starts this afternoon with a trip to Villa Park to take on Aston Villa who just beat the Toffees last week at Goodison Park. Carlo Ancelotti will be heartened by how well his side have played away from their empty home with no supporters in the stands, and will be looking for a strong showing from his side today, boosted by the crucial win over West Ham United and the return of midfield dynamo Abdoulaye Doucoure.
Villa had run rampant in the middle of the park against the Blues last time around, creating chances at will, and Ancelotti will be looking to shut down that part of the game. Also helping Everton’s cause is the absence of striker Ollie Watkins who is suspended for this fixture after his sending off over the weekend, and Jack Grealish not fully recovered yet and facing a late fitness test.
Competition: Premier League Matchday 35
Date and start time: Thursday, May 13th at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m ET / 6:00 p.m. BST
Stadium: Villa Park, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
Capacity: Behind closed doors
Weather: 54°F/12°C, light rain, 66% chance of precipitation, 7 mph winds
TV: NBCSN, Peacock, Telemundo – United States; Sky Sports Premier League – United Kingdom; DAZN – Canada, beIN Sports HD 1, SuperSport Premier League ROA, SuperSport MaXimo 1, RMC Sport 1, Canal+ Décalé, Canal+ Sport 3 Afrique
Radio: evertontv, SiriusXM FC
Live stream: Fubo, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports App, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, Universo Now, ESPN Play Sur, beIN SPORTS CONNECT, DStv Now, RUSH, Hotstar VIP
Gamethread: Live blog above starting one hour before game time
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Information from LiveSoccerTV.com
The Blues last visited Villa Park in August 2019 during Marco Silva’s tenure, with the Blues losing 2-0. It was just one loss in that horrendous start to that campaign that eventually claimed the Portuguese manager’s scalp, and setting the wheels in motion for Ancelotti to take over.