Everton vs Lille: Live Gamethread

Goodison Park has been a fortress for Everton in previous seasons, with away teams not named Crystal Palace struggling to get away from here with points in the bag. This season however has not been so good for the Blues at home. As recently as this past weekend, the Toffees struggled to score against a Swansea City side they overran all game long.

The fourth game in the first group stage of the Europa League brings French side OSC Lille to Merseyside. In the return fixture a fortnight ago, the Blues were the better side and defended well against their speedy opponents, but neither side were able to make it count on the scoreboard for a 0-0 draw.

Lille manager Rene Girard spoke about predictions that VfL Wolfsburg and Everton being favored to progress through Group H, and the hostile crowd they will face tonight.

"However, as things stand, the group is very, very tight and currently there is everything to play for. I think it’s all about getting some good results in the remaining fixtures and it’s within any of the teams’ powers to qualify.

"We know the fans will get behind their team and that will really, really help Everton. Things can really catch fire if they score and they could get into the ascendancy. We know we probably won’t get too many chances in front of goal tomorrow night, so we really have to be clinical and efficient in front of goal if we are to come away with a good result."

Blues boss Roberto Martinez reiterated that the great atmosphere playing under floodlights at Goodison has motivated the squad, and expressed confidence that a positive result should be on the cards tonight too.

"We really enjoyed our last game at Goodison against Wolfsburg. The two away games have been phenomenal experiences but the idea of playing at Goodison under the floodlights and facing French opposition for the first time in our history is really exciting.

"In the last two home games in the Premier League we had sell-out crowds, so you can imagine there is a real buzz around Goodison when we play our football. We really look forward to our home games, especially now we know the group inside out. We are looking to make our home an advantage."

Starting lineups will be posted here as soon as we have them. Join us in the comments below!

Everton XI - Howard, Hibbert, Baines, Jagielka, Distin, Barry, McCarthy, Osman, Naismith, McGeady, Lukaku

Everton subs - Joel, Gibson, Eto'o, Besic, Atsu, Pienaar, Barkley

Lille XI - Enyeama, Corchia, Balmont, Gueye, Frey, Kjaer, Mendes, Souare, Mavuba, Basa, Origi

Lille subs - Rodelin, Meite, Elana, Beria, Rozenhal, Roux, Traore