Live Blog

Fulltime - Everton win a close game 1-0.

90+5’ - Final whistle! Everton win after some heartstopping action in their own box. 1-0 final score.

90+4’ - Gordon and Richy combine to steal the ball and make a break, Gordon cuts in very well and can shoot... chooses to centre the ball and there’s no Everton player in the same area code. Alas.

90+2’ - Solid team defence keeping the Blues ahead, Digne takes a ball off his face and is down. Gets up slowly.

90’ - Sheffield are surging forward looking for the equalizer with four minutes to be added on.

88’ - Gordon has done well disrupting play, and now wins a foul in his own box.
Sigurdsson comes off now, hands the captain’s armband to Seamus Coleman who is on for him. Decent showing for the Icelander in a central attacking midfield role today.
Richarlison in the book now for his latest foul.

86’ - Blades work it well into the box, Baldock has made his way forward and his unmarked header goes tamely over.

84’ - Anthony Gordon is the Blues’ first change, coming on for Walcott who has done well out on the right today.

81’ - Walcott gets away down the right and his wicked ball through the box has no one to meet it.
Now Gomes tries a potshot from outside the box, just wide.

78’ - Sharp gets between Keane and Sidibe, but the ball runs away from him.
DCL clatters Stevens in the opposition half and is given a yellow card.

71’ - Blades attack down the left, deep cross into the box is cleared for a corner by Digne.
Dangerous inswinger to the near post punched away for another corner that is eventually cleared.

68’ - Second drinks break - the hosts now have three fresh players on the pitch, the Blues yet to make any.

65’ - Long ball to Richy, he finds DCL who dallies on the ball and Digne’s cross is blocked.
Everton finding plenty of room to break forward now, the passing has not been up to par though.

61’ - Davies finds Sigurdsson whose through pass to DCL running free is blocked. Always the last pass with the Blues.

58’ - Definitely more open game now as Blades are venturing forward. Everton doing really well now in the middle, getting some passing sequences going.
DCL does well to hold off Egan and fires off a shot, saved.

51’ - Richarlison with a professional foul in the middle to stop the Blades and is lucky to walk away with no caution for that.

49’ - Action stations everywhere now! Sheffield get the ball in the box and Everton clear, a counter down the right and a center to DCL is cleared by Henderson, almost falls to Siggy.
Then the Blades get behind Digne once again before the offside flag stops play.

46’ - Richy & Siggy get the second half underway. Gomes wins a freekick that the Icelander delivers on a plate for the Brazilian, beats Berge in the air and headed perfectly into the far post. Henderson even got a paw to it but nothing doing. 1-0 Blues from a setpiece!

Halftime Thoughts - As the underdog in this fixture, Everton will be the happier of the two sides. Coming into this game with minimal expectations, the Toffees have been disciplined while defending, and though not necessarily too creative with the ball, have done decently.

Premier League

45’ - Norwood’s follow-through with his studs up takes out Richarlison, and the ref finally shows a Sheffield player a yellow card.
It’ll be two-plus minutes added on, but the freekick is cleared and the whistle goes.

43’ - Gomes with another lovely ball, this time to the left corner flag that Richarlison wins a corner for the Blues off. Sigurdsson’s inswinger cleared, then Sidibe’s return cross into the box is headed perfectly by DCL, beats Hendersona nd comes back off the post! Argh!

41’ - Richarlison gives away a freekick that is curled into a mass of players on the edge of the box, cleared.

38’ - Blades win a corner off Sidibe on the Everton right, and curl it in dangerously into the six-yard box, deflected and Pickford collects.
Gylfi passes up a chance to shoot outside the box, passes to Richarlison who is marked and the chance is wasted.

37’ - Seeing a lot more of Sigurdsson with him playing centrally. Almost breaks through two players just outside the box, looks at Stuart Atwell for a foul but nothing doing.

34’ - Sheffield looking to break through the middle with some nifty passing, but Tom Davies turns enforcer and hacks him down. Yellow card, deserved.
Blades try another ball behind Digne who puts it out for a corner that is cleared.

30’ - Berge gets free and almost finds Basham on the Everton left, Digne clears for a corner which is then cleared.
Walcott runs free of Osborn and the Sheffield player tugs him back, but no yellow card. Ridiculous.

25’ - First drinks break, still 0-0.

23’ - Everton’s propensity to work the ball all the way back to Pickford from attacking positions in the final third is a big issue, especially since they don’t do that well breaking out of a high press.
Gomes wins a tackle (!) in his own half, ball breaks kindly for him down the right touchline and his superb curling pass finds DCL free.. but the striker takes a heavy touch and Henderson is quick to gather. Wasted opportunity.

20’ - Well-worked move from Everton comes to nothing. Gylfi Sigurdsson found Walcott streaking down the right, his low centre through the box is perfect, but no blue shirts nearby.

17’ - Blues are trying to play out the back, but are struggling against the Blades’ press to get out of their own half.

14’ - Digne takes down Berge on the left, and a chance for a freekick.. deep into the box and Pickford parries it away for a corner at the backpost.
Wicked inswinger is high, goes over the crowded Pickford and wide past the far post.

13’ - Basham gets away from Richarlison and wins the game’s first corner on the Everton left. The corner is cleared, and the followup comes to Jordan Pickford who gathers safely.

10’ - Ten minutes in and there’s not been much to write home about.

4’ - Now McBurnie clatters Lucas Digne, the Frenchman had beaten him to a 50-50 ball. Everton have seen most of the ball early, but haven’t necessarily gone into the Blade’s defensive third either.

1’ - We’re off at Bramall Lane. A heavy tackle on Richarlison and he’s down holding his ankle, but looks to be fine now.

Lineups - Carlo Ancelotti with a surprise exclusion, and inclusion - Moise Kean is out injured having picked up a knock, and youngster Ellis Simms is in the squad! Jarrad Branthwaite gets his first start for the Blues too. Are the Blues going to be in a 4-4-2 though, or a 4-3-3?

Preview

Is the season over yet? Feels like we’ve been asking that question since football resumed after the coronavirus-enforced interruption. Apart from the rule changes including the closed-doors games, Everton’s miserable midfield has sapped the energy of Blues everywhere.

There’s two games left to play, starting with the last away game of the season, at newly-promoted Sheffield United who have emulated Wolves last season in coming into the Premier League and fighting right away for Europe. Meanwhile, Everton will be lucky to finish even eleventh.

Carlo Ancelotti will have to do without Europa League football as a recruiting tool when he tries to rebuild his squad this summer, but hasn’t shown much inclination in trying out too many of the other fringe players in the current roster. His starting squad today will tell us a lot more about his thinking.

Chris Wilder has arrested the slide the Blades had gone on after resumption, but the Thursday loss to Leicester City might have killed off their chances of getting into seventh with Wolves sitting two points ahead of them and Manchester City’s European suspension revoked. Still, they’ll definitely be the hungrier side today.

Match Details

Competition: Premier League Matchday 37

Date and start time: Monday, July 20th at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m ET / 6:00 p.m. BST

Stadium: Bramall Lane, Sheffield. England, United Kingdom

Capacity: 32,050

Weather: 62°F/17°C, partly cloudy, 0% chance of precipitation, 10 mph winds

How to Watch/Listen

TV: NBCSN - United States; Amazon Prime - United Kingdom; DAZN - Canada, beIN Sports HD 1, 2 &11, SuperSport 2 & 4 Africa

Radio: evertontv

Live stream: NBC Sports App, Amazon Prime Video, ESPN Play Sur, beIN SPORTS CONNECT, DStv Now, RUSH

Gamethread: Live blog above starting one hour before game time

*Royal Blue Mersey has affiliate partnerships and may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links provided.

Information from LiveSoccerTV.com

Lineups

Everton

Sheffield United

Last Meeting

The Blues were quite comprehensively beaten by the Blades earlier this season in the reverse fixture at Goodison Park when Marco Silva was still in charge. Everton had no answer for Sheffield’s discipline and structure, failing to make a mark in the game and slumping to a 2-0 defeat.

The last time the Blues went to Bramall Lane was back in 2007 when the Blades were last in the Premier League, and needed a Mikel Arteta penalty for a 1-1 draw.