Live Blog

90’ - A flurry of activity at the end but nothing serious and it ends 3-3. The fulltime whistle has gone and we’ll have more recaps for you up in a bit.

85’ - Blackpool have looked more interested in getting the winner so far.

80’ - Horrendous giveaway by Besic leads to a shooting chance for the hosts, but it’s straight at Lossl. Phew.

76’ - Two more changes, as Sigurdsson and Calvert-Lewin are now off, and Kyle John and Ellis Simms are on. Excited to watch the young striker play.

72’ - Nkounkou finds Walcott with a delightful ball (off DCL), and he is shoved down on the edge of the box.
Sigurdsson will take, and hammers home beautifully, it’s 3-3 now.

70’ - Not much in terms of action here really, and Ancelotti is sitting down too.

62’ - Next set of subs is Lewis Gibson, Muhamed Besic, Yannick Bolasie and Neils Nkoukou, with Holgate, Gordon, Iwobi and Digne going off.

57’ - Iwobi does well to control a ball from Keane, plays in Walcott who slides the ball just wide.

55’ - DCL shot blocked, Everton win a corner. Siggy takes, cleared.

52’ - Blackpool are pressing the Blues pretty high up and win their second corner of the half. Blues yet to get any meaningful possession.

46’ - We’re underway again. By the way, Ancelotti sent out the Everton players out at least five minutes before they would normally be out, short and sharp conversation in the dressing room.

Second half - Jonas Lossl, Seamus Coleman, Michael Keane and Theo Walcott are on, with Pickford, Kenny, Branthwaite and Kean going off.

45’ - There’s the halftime whistle. Awful start for the Blues, but they came back into the game. With all the expected changes coming up this is going to be a very different game in the second half.

44’ - Sigurdsson has a chance to draw the Blues level, freekick from about 25 yards out. He hits it poorly, way over.

42’ - Kean fizzes a cross across the box, DCL can’t get a touch on it. Ends up in a corner which is cleared. Better from the Blues the last ten minutes or so.

33’ - The usually mild-mannered Carlo Ancelotti was livid with the Blues down three, and the players definitely got an earful there.

29’ - DCL wins a cheap penalty off Ekpiteta. Don’t expect those during the season.
Sigurdsson steps up.. 3-2 now with the Blues pulling back another one.

23’ - Corner from the left and Sigurdsson finds DCL, it’s 3-1 now. DCL’s header went off the shoulder of a defender, no chance for the goalie.

20’ - The biggest joke of it all is that at least half of the lineup today are expected to be starters.

19’ - Good cross in from Kenny and Kean can’t get a decisive touch on it.
Blues win a corner that Digne overhits and it goes out.

12’ - Make that 3-0, what a joke this is. Melee just outside the box and Ward is wide open to hammer home through a crowd.

10’ - Everton now down 2-0, defence in tatters here as Kaikai slots home at the far post.

1’ - Joke team this - CJ Hamilton scores after being played in by Keshi Anderson, 1-0 to the hosts. LOL.

Kickoff - Wouldn’t be an Everton preseason without issues logging on to the website would it? More from me momentarily as soon as I can sort out these issues.

Lineups - So here we go again, another preseason is upon us. Here’s Carlo Ancelotti’s starting lineup for the game at Blackpool today.
Still looks like a 4-4-2 to me, with Jordan Pickford in goal, Lucas Digne - Jarrad Branthwaite - Mason Holgate - Jonjoe Kenny in front of him. The middle is Anthony Gordon - Tom Davies - Gylfi Sigurdsson - Alex Iwobi and Moise Kean partners Dominic Calvert-Lewin up top.

Preview

The Everton players have been back for the preseason this week even as transfer rumours dominate the headlines. There has been little of substance to report on that front really, with all of it just speculation at this point.

For now the Blues have the same squad as they ended the last season with along with a couple of additions including Jonjoe Kenny who returns from his loan spell at Schalke 04 with his future still up in the balance.

That aside, the 2020-21 season starts today with a preseason friendly at League One side Blackpool. While the Blues finished in 12th in the Premier League, their opponents today were sitting in 13th when the coronavirus pandemic shut football down in March. Most lower leagues saw their season’s canceled there and new manager Neil Critchley has gotten his side off to an excellent start in their preseason preparations with a 4-0 win over Southport on August 8, a 2-1 win over Port Vale and on Tuesday night beating Barrow 2-1.

Manager Carlo Ancelotti will likely use this fixture to give some of the peripheral players a run out, but what fans will be watching for is to see whether he is still sticking with the 4-4-2 or if another formation is going to be in play for this season despite the lack of arrivals.

Match Details

Competition: 2020-21 Preseason Friendly #1

Date and start time: Saturday, August 22nd at 7:00 a.m. PT / 10:00 a.m ET / 3:00 p.m. BST

Stadium: Bloomfield Road, Blackpool, England, United Kingdom

Capacity: 17,338 (Match being played behind closed doors)

Weather: 64°F/18°C, mostly cloudy, 22% chance of precipitation, 26 mph winds

How to Watch/Listen

TV: N/A - United States; N/A - United Kingdom; N/A - Canada

Radio: evertontv

Live stream: Everton website

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.

Lineups

Everton

Starting XI - Pickford, Digne, Branthwaite, Holgate, Kenny, Gordon, Davies, Sigurdsson, Iwobi, Kean, Calvert-Lewin

Subs - Keane, Walcott, Nkounkou, Coleman, Bolasie, Besic, Virginia, Gibson, John, Lössl, Simms

Blackpool

Starting XI - Maxwell, Husband, Ekpiteta, Robson, Anderson, Yates, Kaikai, Nottingham, Ward, Turton, Hamilton

Subs - Sims, Howe, Thorniley, Sarkic, Feeney, Madine, Virtue, Shaw, Antwi

Last Meeting

Everton are unbeaten in their last eight games against Blackpool in all competitions, winning both of the last two Premier League meetings during the 2010-11 season. However, Blackpool actually won the last time the two sides met, in a Keith Southern testimonial as part of the 2012-13 preseason with the hosts getting a 2-0 result.