Everton v Crystal Palace: Premier League – live!

12 min: Crystal Palace win a corner, Michael Keane doing well to tackle Christian Benteke as he cantered into the Everton penalty area. Gary Cahill gets a near post flick-on, but Dominic Calvert-Lewin intercepts. Everton clear the danger.

11 min: Having won the free-kick, Lucas Digne floats the ball in to the penalty from deep, trying to pick out Yerry Mina at the far post. The big Colombian wins the header, but is unable to direct it goalwards.

9 min: James McCarthy is booked for a decidedly robust challenge on Lucas Digne. He slid in and got the ball, but took out the Everton defender in the process. There’s a VAR check to see if the challenge is more deserving of a red, but it remains a booking.

9 min: Good work from Seamus Coleman, who gets tight on Zaha and puts the ball out of play for a throw-in as Palace’s star man was threatening.

8 min: Patrick van Aanholt tries to play Wilfried Zaha in behind Seamus Coleman and into the penalty area, but his pass is wayward and Jordan Pickford is first to the ball.

6 min: Jordan Ayew picks up the ball on the edge of the final third, but is tackled by Lucas Digne, who incurs a minor injury in the process. He picks himself off the ground and carries on.

5 min: Everton advance up the pitch with Gylfi Sigurdsson on the ball. The atmosphere at Goodison Park seems remarkably subdued in these early stages, meaning the shouts of the players on the field clearly audible.

3 min: Lucas Digne shoots for goal from the free-kick, his drive bouncing in front of Guaita as the goalkeeper dives to his right to save.

2 min: Gary Cahill is caught in possession at the back by Dominic Calvert-Lewin and fouls the Everton striker as he tries to retrieve it. Free-kick for Everton about 30 years from the Palace goal, where Vicente Guaita’s vision is being impaired by the sun in his eyes.

1 min: It’s a windy day on Merseyside as play gets under way, with Palace getting the ball rolling. Everton’s players wear their customary home kit of blue shirts, white shorts and white socks. Their visitors wear navy shirts, shorts and socks.

Not long now: The teams make their way out on to the Goodison Park pitch for one of just four top flight games being played this weekend, what with the other 12 top flight teams currently enjoying their winter break. The players go through the last of the pre-match formalities and kick-off is just a couple of minutes away.

Carlo Ancelotti speaks: “We need more of everything,” said Everton’s manager on the subject of his four changes. “More quality, more intensity, more pressure, more concentration. It’s not easy to pick the line-up but I want everyone to be involved and the players accept my decisions. Crystal Palace are a good team with lots of different qualities but we want to focus on our game today. We hope to take the initiative and play a fantastic match.”

Roy Hodgson speaks: Asked if he would pick Vicente Guaita following the goalkeeping error that cost Crystal Palace three points against Sheffield United last week, Roy Hodgson was adamant the Spaniard would start today.

“You don’t drop first-choice goalkeepers because they’ve made one mistake,” he said. “It can happen to anyone. We’re very happy with him and very happy he’s playing today.”

Four changes for Everton …

While Roy Hodgson names an identical side to the one that lost against Sheffield United last weekend, Carlo Ancelotti has made four changes following his team’s come-from-behind win against Watford.

As previously mentioned, Fabian Delph is suspended and replaced by Morgan Schneiderlin, while Seamus Coleman and Michael Keane come into defence for Djibril Sidibe and Mason Holgate. Alex Iwobi also drops to the bench to make way for Bernard.

Everton: Pickford, Coleman, Keane, Mina, Digne, Walcott, Sigurdsson, Schneiderlin, Bernard, Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison.

Subs: Holgate, Baines, Iwobi, Sidibe, Stekelenburg, Davies, Kean.

Crystal Palace: Guaita, Ward, Tomkins, Cahill, van Aanholt, Ayew, McCarthy, Milivojevic, McArthur, Zaha, Benteke.

Subs: Dann, Meyer, Kouyate, Townsend, Hennessey, Mitchell, Riedewald.

Referee: David Coote (Nottinghamshire)

Early team news …

Everton will be without Fabian Delph, who is serving a one-match suspension and will sit this game out on the Naughty Step following his red card against Watford last weekend. Andre Gomes and Jan-Philippe Gbamin are long term absentees, although Carlo Ancelotti has revealed that Gomes is nearing a surprisingly early return from the horrific ankle injury he suffered during Everton’s draw with Spurs in November. The midfielder might be fit enough to make Everton’s squad for their match against Arsenal on 23 February.

On loan at Palace from Everton, the Turkish striker Cenk Tosun is ineligible for this game against his parent club, but would have missed out anyway due to a hamstring problem. Centre-back Mamadou Sakho remains sidelined with a hip injury, while left-back Jeffrey Schlupp has a hip injury and has not played since early December.

The first of today’s two Premier League matches kick off at Goodison Park, where Everton host Crystal Palace in today’s lunchtime fixture. Just three points separate the sides, but Palace will draw level with Everton on 30 points if they can beat them today. Kick-off on Merseyside is at 12.30pm (GMT), but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.