Key events
37 mins: Whenever Everton get into crossing positions, Onana and Doucoure get into the box to provide some height. They are both a threat but if Forest win the first header, it leaves a big gap in midfield.
35 mins: Forest are looking to regroup after the sucker punch of the second goal. They keep looking long for Wood which Tarkowski and Keane will not mind at all.
“Well this is unexpected,” says Joe Pearson. “Both teams average less than a goal per game, and here they’ve already scored three! Maybe they just need to play each other all the time.”
33 mins: Forest have Tottenham away and then Newcastle at home in their next two games, making it very important that they get something here. It could be one of the great relegation battles this season.
31 mins: This is all a bit relentless, isn’t it? Everton have scored twice to put them level of goals this season with Wolves and Forest at the bottom of the ‘for’ pile.
GOAL! Forest 1-2 Everton (Doucoure, 29)
Pickford lumps a free-kick forward, Tarkowski and Keane get their heads to the ball and it eventually goes into the six-yard box where Doucoure gets the wrong side of Freuler to nod home.
29 mins: No one seems particularly happy with John Brooks at the moment. He doe not give a foul on Gibbs-White but gives a free-kick to Everton immediately after. Some red shirts surround the referee and he aims to calm tensions.
27 mins: Aurier takes a dreadful touch in the middle of the pitch and then makes up for it by whacking Gueye in the knee. For some reason, the referee does not book the Forest right-back. How odd. Coleman has a word with Aurier and is told to shut up.
25 mins: Forest have had almost 70% of the ball in the past 10 minutes, a sign of their dominance.
23 mins: Coleman gets round the back and tries to pull the ball back from the byline but he goes down after being clipped by Colback. VAR have a look but do not deem it worthy of a penalty, despite Coleman’s annoyance.
21 mins: Lodi whips in a cross from the left for Wood to attack. The striker flicks the ball towards at goal but a defender deflects it over. Forest are now on top. Everton need to react.
GOAL! Forest 1-1 Everton (Johnson, 19)
The City Ground is alive. Gibbs-White finds space, receives the ball and then plays a one-two with Wood before taking a shot from the edge of the area. Pickford saves the original effort but Johnson is waiting to tap home while Everton sleep.
18 mins: Forest have upped their tempo in the past couple of minutes and are pushing Everton back. The Toffees are absolutely committed, flying into challenges and defending as a unit.
16 mins: Shelvey lumps a deep free-kick into the box, Pickford comes to punch clear and Gibbs-White volleys the ball well wide. Pickford moans about the physicality of Forest but his complaints have little basis.
14 mins: Forest look to be feeling the early pressure from Everton and are making a few mistakes. They are not at the pace of the game. Can Everton score two in a match for the first time since beating Crystal Palace 3-0 in October?
12 mins: Maybe that challenge from Shelvey was a sign of his lack of match practice. He was slow to react and when he did, he brought down McNeil. The goal was Everton’s fourth shot of the game, albeit their first on target.
GOAL! Forest 0-1 Everton (Gray, pen, 10)
Gray steps up and sends Navas the wrong way. A huge moment.
9 mins: PENALTY TO EVERTON! A cross goes into the box, it is headed down to Doucoure, he tries to get a shot away but Forest tackle him, McNeil collects the loose ball and is immediately tripped by Shelvey. VAR check for a handball but all is fine.
8 mins: Everton are looking to go quite direct and put the Forest defence under pressure. The hosts have looked susceptible at the back at time season season and Dyche could be playing on that theory.
6 mins: It is all very even at the moment. Everton have looked quite bright, which is the good news for Dyche.
4 mins: Everton get a free-kick on the left thanks to a needless Johnson foul on McNeil. Gray deeps it to the back post where Doucoure is waiting for his header is cleared. The ball comes back into the box, Tarkowski gets a shot away and it rebounds out to McNeil but he can only whack a shot over.
There is a bit of a worry for Forest after Johnson gets whacked by Godfrey in a 50:50. He seems OK and eventually gets up.
“Not wanting to add to the angst, nor provide any false optimism, but I reckon that Everton aren’t going to go down,” says William Preston. “It’ll be tight, but there’s going to be a good run of results, they’ll get a stomp on and last day thrilling heroics will see them scrape by. Over summer they’ll get a striker and all will be slightly better, and then, against the odds, hot that mid table high for the next twenty years.”
2 mins: It looks like Gray is playing as a striker with McNeil on the left and Iwobi on the right.
Kick off!
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
I have my peppermint tea and the players are on the pitch. This is going to be MASSIVE.
Sky have just shown some footage of the last time Everton played at City Ground in 1998. The quality of the video makes me think I might have cataracts.
Sean Dyche on Everton’s poor away form: “The biggest thing is shaking that off, building a new mentality. We have to be consistent throughout 90 minutes.”
Do not worry, Mary Waltz has plenty of angst for us: “Good morning from pitch dark California. Angst? Any left? Of course! I have no way to know if it is true but when the alarm went off this morning it must be similar to someone on death row waiting for a call from the governor knowing it isn’t going to happen. Why get up? To see it through of course. Carry on.”
I spent yesterday at Wolves v Spurs. There was limited angst but plenty of disappointment in how Spurs played. I also did their match at Sheffield United on Wednesday. A bad week all round for them. It did mean Wolves pulled further away from the relegation zone, which is bad news for Forest and Everton.
“I spent the day yesterday in anxiety and dread, in anticipation of Everton’s latest relegation showdown,” says Eric Peterson. “Then, I went to see Spongebob: The Musical last night, and everything changed. Spongebob is right: today is the Best Day Ever! And, tomorrow will be too! And, the next day! And, the day Everton is relegated, and the day it’s found guilty of Financial Fair Play violations, and when it free-falls into League Two, and is forced to fold, and sells the new Bramley-Moore stadium at wholesale to Tranmere Rovers in time for their push for promotion out of the Championship! (Or, maybe Everton will clinch Premier League survival one day in May after all. But, that will be the Best Day Ever!)“
Surely Spongebob has enough money to buy Everton. That would cheer everyone up.
Joe Pearson feels the world needs to listen to this song: “Never one to let a musical cue go unfulfilled.”
“The Everton MBMers were so full of angst during yesterday’s MBM that I wonder whether they will have any left for today?” asks Richard Hirst.
There is no shortage of angst for football fans.
There is some good news for Forest in the shape of Ryan Yates’ return to the matchday squad. He has missed the past five games through illness. It took a bit of time to get to the bottom of the issue, so it is good to see him back.
Forest have gone from their summer plan of being a young, relentless one to being packed full of experience. The important thing for Forest is to stay up and that will be the proof of whether the chance in strategy has worked.
A big loss for the Toffees.
In order to solve Everton’s striking problems, Sean Dyche has decided to go without a recognised striker. I’ve guessed they will play with a 4-3-3, utilising Iwobi in an attacking role of some sort but I am almost certainly wrong.
Starting lineups
Forest (4-3-1-2): Navas; Aurier, Worrall, Felipe, Lodi; Shelvey, Clock, Freuler; Gibbs-White; Johnson, Wood
Subs: Hennessey, Mangala, Williams, Lingard, Toffolo, Surridge, Yates, Dennis, Ayew
Everton 4-3-3): Pickford; Coleman, Keane, Tarkowski, Godfrey; Gueye, Onana, Doucoure; McNeil, Iwobi, Gray
Subs: Begovic, Holgate, Coady, Maupay, Mina, Garner, Davies, Vinagre, Simms
Preamble
Sean Dyche returns to where it all began. The former defender came through the ranks at the City Ground under the watchful eye of Brian Clough. Admittedly, he did not actually play a game for Nottingham Forest’s first team but he has such fond memories of the club he owns a flat overlooking the ground (or so I am told).
There is, unfortunately, no room for sentimentality in the Premier League, especially when survival is at stake. Dyche’s Everton find themselves in the relegation zone and Southampton’s win yesterday will do nothing to cheer them up. A victory today would take the Toffees into the black and up to 16th place, a point behind opponents Forest.
Steve Cooper has made the City Ground a bit of a fortress for Forest, an important trait when aiming to maintain Premier League status. They have not lost at home since September and picked up a valuable point against Manchester City in their most recent match next to the Trent. Last weekend, however, they were shellacked by West Ham 4-0 and will be desperate to bounce back because in such a tight race for the drop, any team that puts together a run of defeats will be in serious trouble.
Here’s a fun game!
Kick-off: 2pm GMT
