Live Blog

Fulltime Thoughts - Once again, the lack of an effective striker killed Everton, who created a bunch of chances earlier in the game but were unable to finish them. That allowed Villa to stay in the game and hit back, and leave Goodison with the win. The Toffees have now not beaten Villa in their last eight games against each other.

90+5’ - Gray wins a corner off Cash. Ball into the box, cleared, and there’s the final whistle, Villa win 2-0.

89’ - Buendia handball gives the Blues a freekick in the left channel. Gray takes it, low at the near post and Martinez saves easily.
Five plus minutes to be added on.

85’ - Coleman wins a corner on the right. McNeil to take, deep ball, Tarkowski climbs over everyone but heads well over.

81’ - Emi Buendia quite loves playing against Everton doesn’t he? Watkins, McGinn and Buendia combine to find the Argentine on the right, and he skips around Coady and slams it home to make it 2-0, game over.
Tom Davies has come on for Onana, but this seems lost.

80’ - Leeds have scored and now that means the Blues have slipped back into the relegation zone.

77’ - Doucoure comes together with Buendia and gets booked, and Goodison is livid.
Simms is on for Maupay, and immediately in the thick of it, gets his foot to a cross from the right but can’t make solid contact and it flies over.
Martinez booked for time-wasting.

73’ - Gana fouls Watkins on the sideline. Freekick into the box is cleared by Onana who is fouled. Ellis Simms getting ready to come on.

70’ - Excellent run from Mykolenko, give and go and gets the ball back in the box, and then goes down, no penalty, and VAR corroborates that.
The first change is Iwobi coming off, which is a surprise. Demarai Gray is on for him. Ball headed down in the box, Maupay tries to play in Gray but the chance is wasted.

68’ - Everton continuing to keep the pressure on Villa, but are just missing that effective final ball into the box.

62’ - Penalty to Villa. Buendia played in McGinn and Gueye made an ill-advised tackle in the box and the player went down. Hardly a debate there. Watkins to take, straight down the middle and the visitors lead 1-0.

59’ - SAVE!!!!!! Time stood still at Goodison as Iwobi was beaten by a through ball that Digne places perfectly onto the head of Watkins. The header floated tantalizingly towards the far corner before JORDAN EFFING PICKFORD flies across and gets a fingertip on the ball, pushes it onto the post and Tarkowksi hoofs it clear! Wow.
Double change for Emery with Digne and Bailey off and Alex Moreno and Emiliano Buendia on.

58’ - Goodison is loud, and the Blues are winning the ball in good spots with their press. Maupay’s cross from the goal-line is collected by the goalie.

55’ - Goodness gracious how did we not score there. The freekick was headed back into the melee, Iwobi’s shot was going wide, but it comes back off a prone Villa player, and then Maupay gets a touch on it and Mings clears off the line! Still the ball pings about in the box before it goes wide. Just need that decisive touch, something we’ve been saying for three games now.

53’ - Bailey barges into Gueye as he’s lining up to shoot, and Taylor thinks about it for a tick before giving the Blues a foul. Promising position again, can McNeil do better this time?

52’ - Second half has been more of the same so far, Everton holding the ball and probing at the Villa defence, and the visitors waiting for a quick break.

46’ - The second half is underway. If you felt the first half was very lopsided to the Everton left, you would be right.

Halftime Thoughts - Dwight McNeil has owned Matty Cash on the Everton right, but the Blues have been unable to get the decisive touch in the box to get a goal. Not surprised to be honest, we know this is an issue.
The Blues adjusted well to the threat of Ramsey and Watkins who had been making inroads on the Everton right early on. Game is still finely poised.

45+3’ - Halftime whistle goes, it’s been quite a game. Both sides have had their phases of control, but it stays 0-0.

45+2’ - Pickford’s long kick finds Onana and he is hauled down by McGinn on the edge of the box. It’s a direct shooting chance, but McNeil will take it so it will be a cross into the box. Straight into the wall, awful.

45’ - CHANCE! Brilliant pass behind the backline from Iwobi that McNeil brings down on the right-ish side of the box, but his complete lack of a right foot means he has to try spin around, eventually gets it to Maupay who tries to place a shot in the far corner but Martinez has gathered himself and can collect. Wasted.
Three-plus minutes to be added on.

44’ - McNeil catches Cash in possession and he goes down easily and wins a freekick right in front of Dyche who looks exasperated at the ref.

42’ - Iwobi concedes a freekick on the Everton right. Digne will put it into the box, and his former fullback partner Coleman can clear.

37’ - Ramsey goes down tackling Gueye and it’s an Everton foul. A moment for both sides to catch their breath. Everton have roared back into the game after being rocked on their heels early.
McNeil dances around and then puts yet another cross in, headed wide by Iwobi. He’s had the beating of Cash on the left there.

34’- Chance! Again McNeil and Myko combine and this time it’s Onana who gets a towering header that Martinez tips over the bar! Iwobi’s corner is deep and headed back across the box, and Villa can eventually clear.

30’ - Immense pressure from the Blues as they continue to pile on the crosses from the left, with Mykolenko now getting in on the act.

32’ - Coleman! Huge stop on Watkins who has holding up the ball on a counter and waiting for his teammates.

29’ - Onana dallies on a shooting chance and it comes to Iwobi and he wins a corner. Iwobi’s inswinger from the left is met my Maupay’s flicked header, flashes across goal and goes out the other side!

27’ - Getting up to fever pitch at Goodison. The crowd are really into it, thanks to what felt like a couple of harsh decisions by the ref going against the Blues. They had hemmed Villa in for a few minutes there but were unable to fashion any real chances.

20’ - McNeil having plenty of joy here on the left against Cash, that’s his fifth cross into the box. Martinez has collected every one of them so far.

13’ - Everton have been unable to get the ball out of their own half for about three minutes now, and it ends with Bailey winning a freekick off Onana in a dangerous spot at the edge of the box.
Lucas Digne is standing over it as is Douglas Luiz, and it’s the former Blue who takes it, and sends it over the bar to a big roar from the Goodison crowd.

10’ - Saved! As expected, the in-form Watkins gets behind birthday boy Coady and is in on goal, but Pickford is quick off his line to make the save.

8’ - Chance! Maupay does well to hold up a long ball, and plays McNeil down the left, his cross into the middle is partly met by Iwobi and the shot is saved.

6’ - First shot of the game is from McGinn. Ramsey is finding space to run and that could be problematic for the Blues.

3’ - Onana left a foot in on Douglas Luiz, and the Brazilian is down. Ref decides that merited an early yellow card, ugh.

1’ - Underway!

Starting Lineups - No changes again for Sean Dyche as he looks to keep the consistency in the lineup. For Villa, Emery has gone with pace on the wings with both Ramsey and Bailey starting.

Lineups

Everton

Aston Villa

Match Preview

Two home games for Sean Dyche, two wins for Everton. How long can the Blues make this streak last? Hopefully long enough to get the club out of the relegation zone and closer to the fabled 40-point mark.

Today’s visitors are Aston Villa who have had their own adversity this season, but renowned Europa League winning manager Unai Emery has come in and somewhat stabilized the club though they are in a bit of a slump in form right now too.

The Toffees currently sit in 16th place with 21 points though the teams at the bottom of the table are all tightly bunched with Southampton in last place just three points behind them, and Leicester City in 14th three points ahead.

Match Details

Competition: Premier League Matchday 24

Date and start time: Saturday, February 25th at 7:00 a.m. PT / 10:00 a.m ET / 3:00 p.m. BST

Stadium: Goodison Park, Liverpool, England, United Kingdom

Capacity: 39,572

Weather: 44°F/7°C, cloudy, 5% chance of precipitation, 12 mph winds

How to Watch/Listen

TV: Peacock - United States; N/A - United Kingdom; Fubo - Canada, beIN Sports Premium 2, SuperSport MaXimo 1, SuperSport Variety 2

Radio: evertontv, VillaTV

Live stream: Fubo, ESPN Play Sur, beIN SPORTS CONNECT, DStv Now, RUSH, Hotstar VIP, JioTV

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

Last Meeting

The Blues lost the away leg of this game 2-1 earlier in the season, with the Blues’ consolation coming from former player Lucas Digne’s own goal. Villa also won their last visit to Goodison Park, with Steven Gerrard and Duncan Ferguson reprising their derby battles on the pitch when Big Dun was caretaker manager of the Blues in January ‘22 after Rafa Benitez was sacked in a 1-0 win.