Live Blog

Fulltime Thoughts - Man, it’s just not ‘fun’ if Everton don’t make you sweat bullets and gnaw your nails to get a win is it?! Blues were the better team today, dominant at times like they were against West Ham, but looked to have thrown it all away early in the second half. Will take the three points any which way they come, onward and upward Blues.

Premier League

Don’t forget to go grade the players and manager here.

90+4’ - Blues continuing to win throw-ins, and are happy to milk the clock.
Close to a minute extra played now. come on ref.. THERE IT IS!! AN AWAY WIN!!

90+2’ - Everton falling back very deep and compact. Now Iwobi gives away a foul right at the edge of the final third, soft that on Boufal. Tense moment this.
Oriol Romeu beats Digne to it and tries to head it back across the area, and it’s cleared somehow, whew.

90’ - Mistake from Holgate allows Saints to break down the left, but Sidibe stands strong twice and the danger is cleared.
Four plus minutes of time added on. Boufal, who is already on a yellow, hacks down Davies.

88’ - Saints starting to throw everything at the Blues now, and Silva will make his last substitution, Michael Keane coming on for Richarlison. Gordon could have made his debut, but Silva is going ultra-conservative.

86’ - Richarlison rolling around the turf for a good couple of minutes as play goes on before the ref finally blows the whistle. The home crowd are livid. He looked to have taken a hit to his left inner thigh or groin area.

84’ - Iwobi with an excellent pass to DCL in space, but his shot is blocked.
The corner is taken short and eventually cleared.

80’ - A freekick from distance into the Saints box, Iwobi coming in hot at the far post, makes solid contact and it deflects off a defender.. and onto the post! Gah!

78’ - Now Digne and Richarlison combine, ball falls to Iwobi who turns and shoots, and sees his shot deflect agonizingly wide of the post. McCarthy was rooted, that could have gone anywhere, but Everton that, of course.
The corner comes to nothing and is cleared away.

75’ - Lovely move and it’s 2-1 Everton!! Iwobi finds Sidibe steaming down the right, and his cross is pinpoint into the box, RIcharlison gets a firm connection off his shin and in!!

73’ - A long throw from Digne causes chaos in the box and Holgate tries to head over McCarthy and it nestles on the roof of the net! So close again!
The subs finally make it onto the pitch, like for like, so far.

70’ - We’ve got a double-change coming up for Everton, with Walcott and Tosun coming off, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Alex Iwobi will be coming on. Will 18-year-old Anthony Gordon make his Premier League debut today too?

65’ - Long ball for Djenepo down the Everton right, Sidibe beaten and pushes him down, ref Paul Tierney books him and gives a freekick right on the edge of the box, but it’s a tight angle.
Ward-Prowse stands over it.. goes for the near post top corner and Pickford parries away for a corner.

62’ - Opening for a shot on his left foot for Richarlison, but he pulls it back and it’s blocked and then falls for Sigurdsson who tries to cut it back and that’s cleared too.
Turns into a corner from Digne, that falls to Tosun but his header is just okay, and straight at the goalie.

59’ - Walcott finds Tosun in the box, and his shot to the far corner is just wide of the post. Good idea and movement there.

55’ - Richarlison finds Sigurdsson a counter and the Icelander hits its right at McCarthy with the goal begging on either side, oof.
Digne takes the corner from the right, it’s short and cleared away.

49’ - Saints now attacking in a more coherent manner, and win a corner off Holgate. Ward-Prowse takes their first corner of the game, and it’s cleared by Mina, but Holgate has to clear again for another corner.
Somewhat cleared away, but this time Boufal does well and beats Digne down the right, his cross takes an unfortunate deflection off Mina and it falls to Ings to poke home from a yard out. Another goal conceded from a set-piece, 1-1.

47’ - Djenepo wins a foul off Sidibe near the corner flag. Saints take it short and Boufal gets a shot from distance, but it’s straight at Pickford. First shot of the game for the hosts.

46’ - Saints have made a change, yanking wingback Cedric and Sofiane Boufal is on for him. Everton late out of the tunnel, Silva giving them a talking-to no doubt.

Halftime Thoughts - Everton clearly bossing this one, and have twelve attempts, only one on goal though, while Southampton are yet to create a shot. Sigurdsson and Walcott are getting plenty of joy down the right, as are Davies and Sidibe who have been very good too.

Premier League

45+1’ - A foul on Sidibe is taken by Pickford and that sees out the half. The home fans are quite irate, and boos ring out.

44’ - We’re going to have one minute of time added on.
Miskicks from Holgate then Mina almost give Saints an opening but Davies is quick to come back and help out. Apt that, he’s been the best player on the pitch.

38’ - Its really all Everton here right now, who are happy to stroke the ball around and wait for the hosts to make a mistake. Silva will be aggrieved that the lead is not more than one goal really, the Blues have been dominant.

35’ - Saints finally win the ball and try to counter, but Holgate stands firm against Danny Ings. Very composed from the youngster.

32’ - Another great move from the Blues, with Walcott and Sigurdsson pairing up to bring the ball up, and Digne charges into the box with the ball, but his right-footed shot is well over.
Fantastic build-up play from the Blues again as they’re just picking holes in the Saints midfield and defence. Tosun and Mina both have shots from distance charged down. Looking good from the Blues.

28’ - Now Richarlison makes a run down the left and his center is blocked for a corner. Digne to take, but it’s cleared. Falls to Davies on the right and his cross/shot drifts towards the far corner and McCarthy tips it over for a corner!
Mina wins the first ball, but it’s cleared after that.

26’ - Southampton are seeing plenty of the ball, but it’s not been in threatening areas. The Blues are showing some good ideas with the ball though, always looking just one pass away from creating a dangerous chance in the final third.
Sigurdsson puts Walcott through down the right, but his cutback is too close to McCarthy, who palms it away.

22’ - Walcott wins a freekick deep down the right. Sigurdsson curls in a peach of a ball, just too far for the goalie to come for, and there’s no Everton players attacking it until Davies comes in at the far post, but can’t get enough on it. That was a chance.

18’ - Tosun and Walcott play a delightful volleyed one-two, but the striker gets under the ball and his header is way over. Tosun has looked very lively today, showing why the manager has gone with him.

16’ - Sidibe has been excellent so far. Wins the ball with an aggressive tackle, finds Sigurdsson who springs Tosun in the box, but his shot is charged down. Better from the Blues.

13’ - Davies getting involved everywhere early on, bit of a ball magnet so far. Nathan Redmond has been given a free role for the Saints and he’s getting about too.

10’ - Digne charges forward and wins an easy corner on the left. Takes it himself, but it’s too high and deep and cleared away.

8’ - Been pretty balanced since the goal, Everton do look all fired up after that boost.

4’ - Chances! Walcott and Sigurdsson both hold the ball in the hosts’s but are unable to get off clean shots, win a corner though.
Holgate > Davies > GOAL!! Outswinging corner is won cleanly by Holgate, and he heads on to the backpost where Davies pops up and easily beats McCarthy at point blank range! Wow!

2’ - Saints with an early freekick to put some pressure on the Everton defence, but Tosun rises highest to clear.

1’ - Raining at St. Mary’s as the game gets underway.

Lineups

Marco Silva has made three changes to his starting XI from last weekend. Gylfi Sigurdsson returns as the #10 and Alex Iwobi is on the bench, Cenk Tosun is the striker-du-jour and Mason Holgate & Yerry Mina is the defensive pairing. Also youngster Anthony Gordon is on the bench! Another youngster Moise Kean will be disappointed to not even be in the squad today.

Preview

Everton travel to the coast today to play Southampton in what has already become a relegation six-pointer. The Saints sit second from bottom, three points behind the Blues and both sides will be motivated to get the win today.

The Toffees have not had much luck lately even when they’ve played well, so at this point the fans will take the three points no matter how they come. Marco Silva’s side almost sealed their first away win of the season last time out at Brighton & Hove Albion, but an acknowledged mistake from the VAR system ensured that didn’t happen.

With Andre Gomes now joining Jean-Philippe Gbamin on the sidelines, and Fabian Delph possibly injured too, Silva finds himself desperately short of options in midfield. Will either Gylfi Sigurdsson or Alex Iwobi be pressed into action in the middle?

Southampton’s last home outing turned into outright embarrassment as Leicester City ran roughshod all over them in a 9-0 romp. Since then they’ve lost twice to Manchester City in closer games, and will be looking to give their home fans something to cheer about when the Toffees visit today, in what has been a favourable fixture for the Saints.

Match Details

Competition: Premier League Matchday 12

Date and start time: Saturday, September 21st at 7:00 a.m. PT / 10:00 a.m ET / 3:00 p.m. BST

Stadium: St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton, England, United Kingdom

Capacity: 32,505

Weather: 47°F/8°C, rain, 79% chance of precipitation, 8 mph winds

How to Watch/Listen

TV: N/A - United States; N/A - United Kingdom; DAZN, beIN Sports HD 8, SuperSport 6 Africa, Optus Sport, RUSH, ESPN 3 Sur

Radio: evertontv, TalkSport 2 Radio UK

Live stream: NBCSports Gold, beIN SPORTS CONNECT, ESPN Play Sur

Gamethread: Comments section below starting one hour before game time

Information from LiveSoccerTV.com

Lineups

Everton

Starting XI: Pickford, Sidibe, Holgate, Mina, Digne, Davies, Schneiderlin, Walcott, Sigurdsson, Richarlison, Tosun

Subs: Lossl, Baines, Keane, Coleman, Iwobi, Gordon, Calvert-Lewin

Southampton

Starting XI: McCarthy; Bednarek, Stephens, Vestergaard; Cédric Soares, Ward-Prowse(C), Oriol Romeu, Armstrong, Djenepo; Ings, Redmond.

Subs: Gunn, Yoshida, Valery, Boufal, Danso, Adams, Obafemi

Last Meeting

Dominic Calvert-Lewin is the only Everton player to have scored away from home this season, though it’s been Gylfi Sigurdsson who has bagged goals the last two times Everton have been at St. Mary’s.

Last time the Blues were here was back in January 2019, with James Ward-Prowse scoring the opener in the second half and then Lucas Digne miskicking horribly past Jordan Pickford to double the home side’s advantage, before Sigurdsson pulled one back late in time added on.