Live Blog
71’ – Another attacking change for the Blues, with Tyler Dibling on for Patterson, who had a good game. Are we back to a 4-2-3-1 now?
66’ – Change for the visitors, with midfielder Tanaka on for the already-booked
Gruev.
63’ – WOW! Everton are hemming Leeds into their own defensive third, and are able to string together some short passes which sees Barry on the ball into the box on the right. He snaps off a shot with the outside of the right boot, and Darlow does very well to claw that away.
Another chance falls to Gueye, his shot is saved.
61’ – Leeds are happy to sit back and pick off the Blues. They counter from Struijk, but the ball comes to DCL who cannot outmuscle Tarky, lol.
58’ – Justin caught on the ball in the middle and Gana pounces, 3-on-3, he finds Ndiaye on the right, cuts in on his left, and Bornauw steps in and blocks his shot, oooh.
53’ – Stach goes sliding in on Myko from behind and is booked, the stadium is baying for more.
Long throw from Ampadu, and Gruev is booked for tugging down Ndiaye who was trying to counter.
47’ – We’ve matched Leeds’ formation here with two wingbacks and a back-three. It’s Branthwaite, Tarkowski and O’Brien across the back from left to right. It’s a 3-4-2-1 with Gana and Garner in the middle, and then Ndiaye and KDH behind Barry.
46’ – Two big changes at the break. Jarrad Branthwaite makes his first appearance of the season, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall returns from injury too. McNeil and Armstrong are off. Looks like a formation change coming too.
Halftime Thoughts – Leeds have easily outplayed Everton with their wingbacks stretching the Blues in the middle and leaving spaces to attack. Blues lucky to not be behind by more, but some changes will be needed right away.
45+2’ – Everton have had the ball for most of the time added on, but were unable to get the ball into a threatening area and as Hooper’s whistle went off, the stadium was very loud and generous with their boos. Leeds lead 1-0, and it could have easily been much worse.
45’ – Everton’s press finally works as Leeds get overconfident playing out the back, Armstrong cuts out the ball, finds Ndiaye who sets up Garner for a left-footed shot, but he puts it into the side netting.
Two minutes to be added on here, and Moyes looks livid. The players will be getting the hairdryer treatment at the break for certain.
41’ – Everton get the ball away and are breaking through Ndiaye, and Hooper blows for a foul to bring the ball back and negates the advantage. Fans are frustrated, that’s not the first time. Methinks the frustration is more from us not having had a sniff of a chance all game long than anything else.
38’ – Armstrong fouled near the left sideline, level with the box. Garner will put the ball into the box, poor, but gets a corner out of it. Cleared, Myko’s shot is blocked, and Garner’s eventual ball back into the box is met by Darlow who collects.
34’ – Gana loses Aaronson behind him, the Leeds player finds Bogle for a lovely low cross that DCL clangs off the upright, no chance for the Blues and how is this game only one-nil?
33’ – Now Aaronson goes streaking down the left, he beats Tarky but Patterson does very well to come back and clear that threat for a corner, that is cleared.
28’ – It was coming, and now Leeds lead. Ndiaye looks to have been fouled on the Everton left, but now Leeds have an overlap, cross into the box that DCL and Tarky both miss, but James Justin is charging into the box and slots home with Pickford trying to cut the angle down. 1-0 to the visitors.
25’ – Tarky gives away a cheap throw-in near the corner flag. Ampadu long ball, Garner and Ndiaye combine to clear. Straightaway given back to Leeds, Blues just cannot hold the ball.
22’ – Mykolenko takes out Bogle on the run, and receives a final warning from ref Simon Hooper. The freekick is into the box, but Ampadu pulls Tarky down and it’s given as a foul.
18’ – Leeds able to march down the flanks way too easily, and with their overloads catching McNeil and Ndiaye well up the pitch.
14’ – Barry was down with what looked like an off-the-ball injury, Beto straight into his warmups. He looks fine to continue though.
Leeds have created a couple of shooting opportunities and are in the ascendancy here.
10’ – Ndiaye looking very sprightly early on. he always looks a couple of steps ahead of Barry in front of him.
Two consecutive turnovers from the Blues pushing the ball to the sidelines allows Leeds to amp up the pressure. Long throw from Ampadu into the box, stabbed well wide.
9’ – Bouncing ball into the Everton box and a mix-up between the Blues and Pickford almost allows DCL in.
7’ – Ndiaye has gone to the left, and McNeil is on the right. Armstrong is in the middle.
4’ – Barry wins another corner on the left this time, but this is cleared away too.
1’ – Garner gets us underway and straight away the Blues win a corner on the right. Garner’s outswinger, headed back into the box by Tarkowski, cleared away.
The theme of the evening is #AllTogetherNow, to commemorate that football is indeed for everyone, all genders, abilities, races and more.
A minute’s applause for the late Tommy Wright, one of the great fullbacks to have lined up for the Blues in the past.
Starting Lineups
Everton – David Moyes puts Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gana Gueye straight back into the XI. Looks like we nailed the lineup again in the predictions.
Leeds – Daniel Farke does get Anton Stach back.
Match Preview
Everton will need to sort out whatever it is that ails them playing at home at Hill Dickinson Stadium, and soon too while the rest of the league continues to be a scrambled midtable mess. Once again the Blues find themselves in a position where a win could see them nestled in the thick of the race for Europe, but whenever that opportunity has come in the recent past they have managed to bottle it.
A very impressive performance away at Aston Villa with a depleted squad was topped off with an unexpected three points against an opponent they have often struggled against. Tonight they will host Leeds United who are trying to ensure they don’t get pulled into a relegation scrap, and are quite capable of taking the game to the Blues with their quick passing game.
And then of course there is the matter of Dominic Calvert-Lewin. After nine seasons of being at the Toffees from where he hit the highs of being a deadly striker under Carlo Ancelotti and on the fringes of the England national team, and injury lows that saw him miss long spells along with his somewhat suspect finishing one-on-one meaning chances going abegging. He has been on a recent purple patch and you would wager there’s a number of fans who have bet money that he’ll bag one today.
David Moyes will have Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gueye back, and with Jarrad Branthwaite, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Carlos Alcaraz all back in training, the matchday squad is going to have much less of an Under-21 feel to it tonight.
Leeds United will be without defender Jaka Bijol and winger Daniel James. Anton Stach has resumed training and could be in the matchday squad with Gabriel Gudmundsson facing a late fitness test.
Match Details
Competition: Premier League Matchweek 23
Date and start time: Monday, January 26th at 12:00 p.m. PT / 3:00 p.m ET / 8:00 p.m. BST
Stadium: Hill Dickinson Stadium, Merseyside, England, United Kingdom
Capacity: 52,769
Weather: 40°F/4°C, light rain, 40% chance of precipitation, 17 mph winds
How to Watch/Listen
TV: USA Network – United States; Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League – United Kingdom; Fubo – Canada, beIN Sports HD 1, SuperSport Premier League ROA, SuperSport MaXimo 1 & 2
Radio: evertontv, TalkSport Radio UK, SiriusXM FC
Live stream: Sky Go UK, NOW, SKY GO Extra, Sky Ultra HD, ESPN Play Sur, beIN SPORTS CONNECT, DStv Now, RUSH, Jio Hotstar
Gamethread: There will be a live blog for this game, with our coverage continuing after the final whistle with the match recap and reaction.
*Royal Blue Mersey has affiliate partnerships and may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links provided.
Information from LiveSoccerTV.com
Last Meeting
The two sides had met in the first game of the season at Elland Road, with an error-strewn flat performance from the Blues punished in a 1-0 defeat. The last time Everton hosted Leeds was in the second half of the 2022-23 season with that spectacular cross/shot from Seamus Coleman on the right flank the only goal of the game, which helped the Blues clamber away from the relegation zone while pushing Leeds down the trapdoor and out of the top flight. It would go on to be voted Everton’s goal of the season.
