Live Blog

Fulltime Thoughts - A scrappy affair as expected, but disappointing in the end as once again it’s a setpiece that causes the demise of the Blues. Some tough weeks lay ahead for the Toffees after the international break.

90+6’ - Gordon wins a corner on the right off Digne, Pickford is up in the box too. Gordon’s corner goes out before coming into the box and there’s the final whistle. Everton lose 1-0 at home to Aston Villa.

90+3’ - Danny Ings is the ninth booking of the day, fouling Holgate. Everton cannot hold the ball in the opposing half.

90’ - There will be five-plus minutes added on.

86’ - Mings booked now for a foul on Richy, Gordon to take, deflection off the wall and Martinez gathers.

82’ - Everton win a freekick, want to take it quickly and Pawson doesn’t let it happen. Allan has a few choice words and is booked.
Now Godfrey slides into Douglas Luiz, catches him with his trailing leg and is also booked. This creates a bit of a ruckus. Five Everton bookings now out of seven in total.

74’ - Another Everton corner cleared. Cross back into the box and Mina gets to it, well over, ugh.
Richy runs away from Cash and now the Villa defender is booked. Freekick cleared but Everton keep the ball in the Villa area and win a corner. Cleared and Gray has a swipe at the ball from the edge of the box, top row of the Gwladys Street unfortunately. Hopefully he got whoever threw the bottle in the first half.

70’ - Kenny clatters Digne, freekick. Cleared.

68’ - Richarlison wins a corner on the left, Gordon to take. Mina gets a head to it and it’s just the wrong side of the post, oof!
Emi Martinez gets a yellow card for timewasting. His gamesmanship is very well-known.

66’ - Oooh! Richarlison & Gordon one-two, quick low cross and DCL gets a boot to it, but it’s hard to control and goes wide. Much, much better now.

65’ - Doucoure is down and looks hurt. He limps off and Tyler Onyango is going to get the nod. We do not need more injury issues, but what an opportunity for the teenager!

60’ - Blues win a corner, Godfrey header is saved and Villa look to break, but Gray cuts out the danger.

58’ - Mina steps in front of the charging Ramsey, wins the ball and somehow referee Pawson determines that the Colombian should be booked and gives a freekick on the edge of the box. Big chance for Villa to pull away.
Coutinho to take, Digne there too, the Brazilian curls it over the wall and over the bar.

55’ - Demarai Gray shot is blocked, then Gordon’s cross into the box is headed over by Richarlison, better.

52’ - Two quick subs and now Allan and Anthony Gordon are on, Gomes and Townsend off.

46’ - Second half underway. Everton are going to need to do a lot more attacking, no shots in the first half pretty much sums it all up.

Halftime Thoughts - Disappointing end to the half, both from the players and from the fans throwing projectiles. We don’t need this. For the tenth game in a row the Blues concede first, and once again it’s from a setpiece.

45+2’ - Doucoure gets caught upfield and Andre Gomes brings down Jacob Ramsey to earn the game’s first yellow card.
Freekick into the box is half-cleared by Calvert-Lewin, comes to Coutinho who heads goalwards and Pickford parries over for a late corner. Digne inswinger, Buendia nips forward and gets a head to it and it loops over Pickford and goes into the goal. Villa lead just before the break, 1-0.

Ugly scenes as Buendia decides to unwisely celebrate in front of the Gwladys Street end, and Matty Cash and Lucas Digne are both felled by projectiles from the crowd. That’s not good, no excuse for that.

45’ - Stunning save from Pickford! Watkins was offside anyway, so no matter. Well-worked move from Villa and the cross into the box is perfect for the striker to head across the goal, and Pickford sticks out his boot while going the other way and kicks it away,

40’ - Richarlison getting into the wars here, gets in tangles with Cash, Luiz and then McGinn all in thirty seconds. Villa not getting any joy from ref Craig Pawson and things are getting a bit heated here.

38’ - Lovely ball over the backline for Ollie Watkins with the striker controlling it very well with one foot, toe pokes it just past the onrushing Pickford and wide of the far post. The Villa player wants a penalty as the goalie slid into him, but the ref is not interested and neither is VAR.

32’ - Richarlison does well to win a corner on the right. Townsend inswinger, Villa clear.

28’ - Godfrey does very well to step in front of Buendia cutting in and gives away a corner.
It’s cleared, Digne caught in possession by Doucoure in midfield and a break is on! His ball to Richarlison is poor though and Martinez can clear. Big groan goes around Goodison Park.

24’ - Watkins easily beats Mason Holgate, but Coutinho can’t get away from Mina who clears.

22’ - Ben Godfrey makes a charge forward and wins the game’s first corner. Andre Gomes inswinger, Mina just gets a touch on it and it flashes across the goal.

18’ - Same trio almost get the ball in space again. And now Demarai Gray makes his first run at Matty Cash, but overhits the ball and it runs away from him.

14’ - Andros Townsend and Abdoulaye Doucoure combine and almost find Dominic Calvert-Lewin in space. Pretty straightforward from the Blues so far.

12’ - Emi Buendia does well to cut inside and let off a shot that Pickford does well to parry away.

7’ - Villa win a freekick from a promising position, with Coutinho, Douglas Luiz and Digne all standing above it. Luiz to take, and just over, with Jordan Pickford diving across.

3’- Some boos as Lucas Digne touches the ball. Disappointing.

1’ - The air-raid siren has gone, Z-Cars has played, and we’re underway with Richarlison winning a freekick almost immediately.

Duncan Ferguson has gone with Yerry Mina as the captain, with Mason Holgate joining him in the middle of what looks like a 4-4-2 (scroll below to see lineups).

Villa are in a 4-3-3 with Lucas Digne and Coutinho both starting.

Preview

Everton’s situation is dire. Down to sixteenth place in the table, six points above the relegation zone. No manager, no Director of Football, no head physio, no scouting team.. this is a bad situation for the Toffees. Well, enter the brave Duncan Ferguson, looking to use his enthusiasm and work ethic to drag this club back into some sort of form.

Visitors Aston Villa have also gone through a lean spell and a change in management, but thanks to some hefty spending both in the summer and this winter their prospects for the second half of the season look much better.

The onus will be on the Goodison Park crowd to be the twelfth man and push the Blues to a desperately needed win here. Seeing the familiar face of Steven Gerrard in the opposition dugout should ensure that Villa get a nasty reception even as former fan favourite Lucas Digne lines up in the visitors’ colours.

Match Details

Competition: Premier League Matchday 23

Date and start time: Saturday, January 22nd at 4:30 a.m. PT / 7:30 a.m ET / 12:30 p.m. BST

Stadium: Goodison Park, Liverpool, England, United Kingdom

Capacity: 39,572

Weather: 46°F/8°C, cloudy, 5% chance of precipitation, 11 mph winds

How to Watch/Listen

TV: USA Network, Universo - United States; BT Sport 1 - United Kingdom; DAZN - Canada, beIN Sports HD 1, SuperSport Premier League ROA, SuperSport Maximo, RMC Sport 1, Canal+ Sport 3 Afrique

Radio: evertontv, SiriusXM FC, TalkSport Radio UK, BBC Radio 5 Live

Live stream: Fubo, NBC Sports App, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, Universo Now, BT Sport Ultimate, BTSport.com, BT Sport app, ESPN Play Sur, beIN SPORTS CONNECT, DStv Now, RUSH, Hotstar VIP

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

Aston Villa

Last Meeting

The Blues have been flat against Villa ever since they returned to the Premier League, drawing two and losing three of the five games they’ve played since, scoring just twice in the process.