Live Blog

Fulltime Thoughts - A comfortable win in the end, the Blues looked good in bursts, still some things that need to be worked out, as can be expected in a preseason with a new manager and still missing a number of key players.

90+3’ - No further drama and there’s the final whistle, Everton have won 1-0.

90’ - 20-year-old centrehalf Joe Anderson has been Digne’s understudy in the US with Neils Nkounkou away at the Olympics, and he has a shot from distance himself, but it’s well wide.
Three minutes added on.

88’ - Game is slowly drifting to an end with Everton not really looking too hard for the second.
Pumas pressure continues to create turnovers though they also continue to shoot from distance.

81’ - Doucoure is booked for a nasty-looking challenge, and then is free on the right a minute later and finds a streaking Jonjoe Kenny through on goal, but the goalie was quick to come out and smothered the shot.
17-year-old Charlie Whittaker has come on for Nathan Broadhead, who started the second half.

76’ - Corner taken short, another shot into the box is blocked and ricochets over the goal for a corner. This one is cleared.

74’ - Lopez shoot from outside the box, ball bending away from Virginia and he saves well. Pumas attacking with vigour after the break.
Another shot from distance, and Virginia saves low again, same side.

69’ - Now Pumas come forward and the right winger tries to catch Virginia off his line but it goes just over.
Hyrdation break.

66’ - Gordon breaks free on the left and puts in a delightful low cross, James meets it perfectly and the goalie Gonzalez pulls off a stunning reaction save!
Another chance now as Gbamin charges forward into space on the right, but his cross doesn’t find any white shirts in the box.

64’ - Broadhead switching over the to the right and makes a break, a lovely centre that James oversteps and Doucoure is too close behind him and sidefoots wide.

61’ - Broadhead just offside, was running into space there.
Now Gordon has a pop after a nice pass from Rodriguez, goalie saves well.

59’ - Jonjoe Kenny has been a disaster so far today, misplacing simple lateral passes when going forward, and then is shoved off the ball by Dinenno whose snapshot goes just wide.
Allan with a delightful diagonal that Broadhead reins in, turns past the goalie but as the angle narrows he holds on to the ball and can only win a corner.

57’ - Jean-Philippe Gbamin is playing the left midfielder in a 4-3-3 formation now, which is an interesting use for him as he looks to get on the end of a long ball. Definitely more attacking promise than Gomes in that spot.

55’ - Play was held up for a few minutes after Allan caught Rogerio from behind and both players appeared injured. The UNAM player is being subbed off.

51’ - Battocchio has a shot that fizzes just wide of the far post, Virginia had that covered. The chance had come from Allan getting caught in possession as UNAM are pressing too.

48’ - Delightful sequence of passing through the middle finds James free on the right to cross into the box, but the Colombian is offside.

A slew of changes over the break, bear with us as we sort through them.
James, Gordon, Doucoure, Allan, Holgate, Kenny, Virginia, Broadhead and Gbamin. Keane and Digne stay on.

Halftime Thoughts - Much much better from the Blues today, they were a joy to watch for some spells there. Gray looking like a very astute signing so far.

45+3’ - Gomes concedes a cheap freekick which is curled into the box, Begovic comes out to get it but misjudges the flight and it sails past him, and wide. Phew!
There’s the halftime whistle, Everton lead 1-0.

45’ - Iwobi with a lovely jinking run and a give-and-go with Kean, shot beats the goalie, and the far post too.
Dinenno now cuts in past Coleman and fires in from a narrow angle but Begovic controls well.

41’ - UNAM had a spell of possession where they won two successive corners but weren’t able to make any clear-cut chances.

39’ - This game certainly has an undercurrent of tension as both sides have had some fouls bordering on the nasty. Quite unlike a preseason game really.

33’ - Neat little dribble from Coleman and he puts in a perfect cross for Kean.. Moise goes of the overhead kick that the defender blocks with his upraised arm! Ref blows for a foul by Everton, assuming high boot, but surely that is a penalty!
No VAR in this preseason.

28’ - Hydration break. Gray has been Everton’s best player of the last two games, full of running.

23’ - Gray does really well to bring down a long diagonal behind the defence. He beats his man who pulls him down at the edge of the box! Digne with the outswinger.. just missed by Keane, and it’s a bit of a melee but no Everton player can get a foot through the ball.

20’ - Everton lead!! Gray pounces on a loose ball in midfield and plays a delightful ball through on goal for Kean. The striker sees his shot saved but the rebound dribbles behind the goalie and Kean can slot home unchallenged. 1-0 Everton.

18’ - Striker Dinenno has a shot on target but Begovic does well to save the swerving ball.

Stream is back up!

A couple of crosses and a corner have gone into the UNAM box, but they have been dealt with well. Iwobi is playing where Gray played against Millonarios, but not had much effect.

Everton are pressing UNAM up high and doing well, a couple of chances for Kean and Gray already too. Better start today than on Sunday.

Brian and Pat are at the game and telling us that Townsend is on the left and Gray on the right today. Iwobi apparently is second striker in a 4-4-2.
Follow the RBM Twitter account for commentary until we get sorted out here!

An Everton preseason stream having technical difficulties? Unheard of!!

So the lineups are out and Benitez has made four changes from the Sunday XI, with Michael Keane, Tom Davies, Andre Gomes and Demarai Gray coming in.

Opponents UNAM are in a sort-of 4-4-1-1 formation with a neat little hole right where Gomes usually operates in a midfield three.

Lineups

Everton

Pumas

Preview

Everton play their second match of their United States preseason tour tonight when they take on Mexican side Pumas, aka Club Universidad Nacional (UNAM) based in Mexico City and playing in the Liga MX.

The Blues struggled with the conditions initially on Sunday when they took on Millonarios, with the Colombian outfit weaving intricate passing patterns and creating chances. However the Blues recovered well in the second half with the infusion of some young blood, and deservedly leveled the scored before it took penalties to resolve the game in the Toffees favour.

Today it will be interesting to see if Rafa Benitez sticks with the same starting XI or finds a way to bring in some of the subs from Sunday into the first half lineup. Key players Jordan Pickford, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Yerry Mina are still on break after the European Championship & Copa America, with Richarlison off at the Olympics in Japan - the Brazilian added a brace today to bring his scoring tally to five for the competition. All three new signings in Andros Townsend, Asmir Begovic and Demarai Gray played important roles and should continue to improve.

Liga MX is played as two tournaments over the two halves of the season, with UNAM finishing in second place in the first campaign, and losing in the final of the playoff, before struggling in the second half of the season. Their seventh placed finish in the aggregate table allowed the Pumas to qualify for the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League as well as the 2021 Leagues Cup.

Match Details

Competition: Friendly (Everton preseason game #4)

Date and start time: Wednesday, July 28th at 3:00 p.m. PT /6:00 p.m ET / 11:00 p.m. BST

Stadium: Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida, United States

Capacity: 65,000

Weather: 79°F/26°C, cloudy, 24% chance of precipitation, 7 mph winds

How to Watch/Listen

TV: N/A - United States; Premier Sports 1 - United Kingdom; SuperSport Action

Radio: evertontv, TalkSport Radio UK, SiriusXM FC

Live stream: Fubo, ESPN+, ESPN App, Premier Player HD, ESPN Play Caribbean, ESPN Play Norte

Gamethread: There will be a live blog for this game.

Make sure you’re following the Royal Blue Mersey Twitter account as we have Brian & Pat on the ground in Orlando taking in the sights and sounds before, during and after today’s game.

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

Information from LiveSoccerTV.com

Last Meeting

The Blues have never played UNAM before, nor have they taken on any Latin American sides in the past.