Good afternoon and welcome to our live text coverage of the Premier League clash between
Huddersfield Town and
Everton at the John Smith's Stadium. This is a HUGE game for the hosts as a win would all-but guarantee their Premier League survival, while the visitors will be keen to avoid defeat to curb the growing discontent among their fan base. Stand by for team news...
HUDDERSFIELD XI: Lossl; Hadergjonaj, Jorgensen, Schindler, Kongolo; Hogg, Mooy, Quaner, Pritchard; Van La Parra, Mounie
HUDDERSFIELD SUBS: Smith, Malone, Billing, Coleman, Lowe, Depoitre, Stankovic
EVERTON XI: Pickford; Coleman, Keane, Jagielka, Baines; Gueye, Schneiderlin, Rooney; Walcott, Tosun, Vlasic
EVERTON SUBS: Bolasie, Martina, Niasse, Funes Mori, Davies, Robles, Baningime
Let's start with hosts Huddersfield, who have named an unchanged XI from last weekend's 1-0 victory over Watford.
David Wagner had a near-full-strength team to choose from but Tom Ince, who came off the bench and hit the winner against the Hornets, is out of the squad through injury.
Long-term absentees Elias Kachunga, Danny Williams and Michael Hefele will also play no part, leaving it to Van La Parra and Mounie to provide the goal threat as the Terriers seek the win that will all-but confirm their top-flight survival against all odds.
Over to Everton, who have made one change from the side that beat Newcastle at Goodison Park on Monday evening. Nikola Vlasic replaces Yannick Bolasie on the right side of their attack.
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The inclusion of Vlasic will please Toffees fans, many of whom have been calling for the young Croat to be given more first-team opportunities. Bolasie, who has looked rusty since returning from a year-long injury, was off the pace against the Magpies.
The other big news from the Everton lineup is the inclusion of Morgan Schneiderlin. The Frenchman, who has been in decent form of late, hobbled off with a dead leg against Newcastle and was subjected to a fitness test ahead of today's game.
Schneiderlin is one of two holding midfielders in the Blue' lineup, alongside Gueye, but don't expect a typical Allardyce shut-out attempt this afternoon.
Wayne Rooney is in an advanced midfield position and the attack is three-pronged, with Theo Wallcott, Vlasic and
Cenk Tosun supporting one another.
Let's take a look at the two team's recent form ahead of the game, and we'll start with Huddersfield, who head into the match in 16th place in the table, with a six-point cushion between them and the relegation zone.
Recent improvements are behind them being within touching distance of Premier League survival. In the last eight matches, David Wagner's side have claimed 11 points. To put that in perspective, they took just three from their previous eight games.
Terriers fans better hope they open the scoring this afternoon, though, as they tend to struggle in matches in which they fall behind.
In fact, they are yet to win a Premier League match in which they have conceded first and have lost 16 out of 18 games when the opposition has drawn first blood. Brighton and bottom club West Bromwich Albion are the only clubs in the top flight with similar woes, as they too are yet to overturn a deficit and win.
Although Huddersfield have defied the odds to be within touching distance of safety at this stage in the season, it's not because of their goalscoring prowess. They have failed to score in six of their Premier League home games this season, a joint-worst for the division.
Their overall goal haul of 27 is a joint-low with Swansea City and teams who score as few as that don't tend to stay up. Stoke City circa 2012 were the last team to stay up with such a poor goal return.
Over to vistors Everton, and they head into the match with a toxic cloud hanging over them as manager
Sam Allardyce's future remains the subject of intense debate.
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A large and increasingly-vocal section of the Toffees support is keen to see the back of Allardyce, but the former England boss claimed in his latest press conference that he has the backing of the club's board and is already planning for next season.
However, until majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri and his board publically backs Big Sam, nothing is set in stone. The Everton heierarchy cannot ignore the growing sense of discontent among their supporters, which was evident from the lack of atmosphere at Goodison Park as they beat Newcastle on Monday night.
The only way Allardyce can win over some of the naysayers is with more exciting football and better results on the pitch. Let's take a look at his team's recent stats...
The Toffees have lost only one of their last six games, and they have earned three wins during that run. That might sound like an upturn in form, but they are still terrible away from home, a problem that predates Big Sam's tenure.
The Blues have kept just two clean sheets on the road this season, at Newcastle and West Brom. No team in the division has a poorer record. Moreover, they seem to particularly struggle in this neck of the woods, having won only five of their 31 away Premier League games against Yorkshire opposition.
This season, many of their best results have come against teams below them in the league table. In fact, all 12 of their league victories have come against lower-placed sides, which bodes well for the trip to 16th-placed Huddersfield.
There could be two records set this afternoon. One more goal for Everton would see them hit 1,300 during the Premier League era, while a defeat for Allardyce would be his 200th as a manager in the division. No prizes for guessing which record the away manager is hoping will remain intact for now.
Let's take a look at the head-to-head record these teams share...
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Everton are unbeaten in their last eight meetings with Huddersfield in all competitions, registering four draws and four wins on that run. Allardyce's first match in the Blues dugout was against today's opposition, and they rolled out 2-0 winners at Goodison Park.
A victory today would see the visitors complete a league double over the Terriers for the first time since 1950, although it should be noted that they haven't spent a great deal of time playing in the same division.
For the Terriers' most recent victory over Everton, you have to go all the way back to 1956. They beat the Blues 1-0 at home in May of that year, but that win wasn't enough to save them from relegation to the second tier of English football.
Let's take a look at what the two managers had to say ahead of this one...
WAGNER: "The players know they can write another unbelievable chapter in Huddersfield's history, something no-one at this club has done for years. This feels like a game where, at the end, we could really have something in our hand that would be massive for our football club." (via the club's official Twitter account).
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ALLARDYCE: "I'm seen as defensive and negative.It seems to be a running trend. I can cope with that; I do my job to the best of my ability and I've always tried to be honest with everyone in how I do it and why I do it. We've not only achieved the goal [of staying up], we've played some extremely entertaining games."
PREDICTION: It's time for a pre-match prediction, and I'm going for a 1-1 draw. Everton have struggled away from home but have shown subtle improvements across the pitch of late. Playing to their usual standard, I can see them avoiding defeat against a side that will be bringing their A-game in the hope of taking an important step towards Premier League survival.
There's just over five minutes to go until kickoff, so here's a reminder of our two starting XIs...
HUDDERSFIELD: Lossl; Hadergjonaj, Jorgensen, Schindler, Kongolo; Hogg, Mooy, Quaner, Pritchard; Van La Parra, Mounie
EVERTON: Pickford; Coleman, Keane, Jagielka, Baines; Gueye, Schneiderlin, Rooney; Walcott, Tosun, Vlasic
There's a good home crowd here at the John Smith's Stadium hoping to see their side move within touching distance of Premier League safety. Can they do it? Stay tuned to find out.
KICKOFF! Everton get the match underway, kicking from left to right in the first half.
Everton win an early corner as Vlasic puts Terence Kongolo under pressure and the Huddersfield man puts the ball behind. Rooney swings in a cross and Steve Mounie, who is back defending, heads it clear convincingly.
Huddersfield win a free kick around the halfway line as Theo Wallcot commits a foul. The Terriers string a series of passes together before giving the ball away. Rooney retains possession for Everton after picking Hogg's pocket, but he lacks the support to kickstart a counter into the final third.
Hogg plays a long ball towards the right flank, hoping to pick out the run of Collin Quaner. It was a hopeful cross from the midfielder, who put too much on it. The ball bounces out for an Everton goalkick, to be taken by Jordan Pickford.
Pritchard and Quaner exchange passes at pace and work to ball into the Everton box. Gueye does well to come between them, using his strength to scuppur the move before the away defence clears its lines through the back-tracking Baines.
Huddersfield are attacking that right flank incessantly, with Mooy and Pritchard finding a way through a little too easily. Seamus Coleman needs to keep his guard up and the Toffees two holding midfielders Gueye and Schneiderlin need to be quicker to lend a hand when they spot him in trouble.
The atmosphere is fantastic inside the John Smith's Stadium this afternoon. The home crowd are really taking their role as the 12th man seriously as Huddersfield attempt to move within an inch of Premier League safety. No clear-cut chances for them or the visitors so far, though.
It's been an evenly-matched opening to the game. Much of the possession has been in the middle of the park, although Huddersfield have committed men forward to attack along the right channel. Everton have offered nothing in the final third. Let's hope the zero shots on goal so far isn't an indication that we have a 0-0 stalemate on our hands.
We haven't seen much of Rooney so far this afternoon. He hasn't scored a single goal in this calendar year, although Allardyce has been deploying him in the centre of the park of late. There are some question marks over his effectiveness in that position and he's done nothing to dispel them so far.
Huddersfield claim the first shot on goal, but it's nothing to write home about! Mounie swivels on the edge of the box and lets fly. His effort takes a big deflection on its way, which takes most of the sting out of it and allows Pickford to claim comfortably.
Coleman concedes a corner under pressure from Rajiv van La Parra. The Irishman defends well, keeping his marker at bay as they tussle on the byline, but he loses his footing and puts the ball behind. Huddersfield, however, do nothing with the corner.
Huddersfield are playing with a bit more intent now, and they make Pickford work by forcing him to come racing off his line to claim a cross played in by Aaron Mooy from a deep position.
Neither side has done particularly well at retaining possession this afternoon. The ball is switching between them both, with both the visitors and their hosts failing to do anything with it. Everton, especially, have lacked any kind of creative spark.
Here are some action shots from the first 20 minutes, courtesy of Everton's official Twitter account - not that there has been much action to report so far!
Six of the Blues' last eight away games against newly-promoted opposition have ended in draws, and this game is showing no signs of being any different up to now.
Much better from the Blues as Gueye finds Coleman wide on the right. The Irishman races towards the byline and plays a cross into the six-yard box, which Christopher Schindler hoists over the bar to concede a corner. The resulting cross ends up back at Rooney's feet outside the box and he lashes an effort wide.
The home fans cry out for a penalty as Van La Parra tumbles inside the Everton box under pressure from Vlasic. The replay shows that the referee was right to turn his back, as the Dutchman clumsily tripped over his own feet there!
CHANCE! Pritchard makes his way to the byline and is able to float a cross into the penalty are for Van La Parra to swing at. The striker hits it cleanly but puts far too much on it and puts his shot into the stand. That's the best chance of the game so far, but it was nowhere close to troubling Pickford in the Everton goal.
The Terriers are calling the shots now. They're showing attacking intent and getting plenty of service up to Van La Parra. A goal for David Wagner's side ahead of half time would really keep the wind in their sails.
Huddersfield surge forward and Quaner almost gets goalside of his marker inside the box, but he loses possession and the Everton defence clears its lines. Good pressure from the hosts, who are keeping Allardyce's men under the cosh.
This performance will do nothing to quell the vitriol towards Allardyce at Everton. They have offered NOTHING going forward and now find themselves having to soak up intense pressure from Huddersfield.
GOAL! Huddersfield Town 0-1 Everton (Cenk Tosun)
Everton hit Huddersfield on the break against the run of play. The move begins in their own half as Van La Parra gives away possession, allowing the Blues to counter with Walcott leading the charge. He picks out Tosun inside the box and the Turk directs a low shot straight into the bottom corner to make it 1-0. Great precision from him!
Huddersfield look rattled after falling behind, and that is to be expected considering they were calling the shots until Tosun popped up in the box following a swift counter. Wagner needs to lift his players with his half-time team talk now.
Neither side has created anything since that goal went in, and that's hardly surprising considering goalmouth action has been at a premium throughout the afternoon.
Just one minute of stoppage time will be played.
HALF TIME: Huddersfield 0-1 Everton
There's a tense atmosphere inside the John Smith's Stadium at half time as Huddersfield trail Everton by a goal to nil at the interval.
They went into the match hoping to quash their relegation concerns, but as things stand, they could be thrust back into the thick of a dogfight by the end of the weekend.
David Wagner's men called the shots in the first period and created more chances than their opponents, though none of them are what you would call clear-cut goalscoring opportunities. The Blues hit them with a counter against the run of play, a move that Cenk Tosun capped off with a neat finish.
Here are the stats from the first period:
Although Everton shaded the possession in the first period, Huddersfield are unlucky to find themselves a goal down. They have shown more ambition in the final third than their opponents and created more chances. David Wagner needs to deliver a big pep talk at the break.
Here are the other Premier League scores at half time:
That Southampton scoreline will be of particular interest to the Huddersfield fans. If the Saints win that fixture, they will be just three points behind the Terriers in the table. It just goes to show, Wagner's men are not safe yet.
The hosts could use some extra firepower in the second half to turn some of those half-chances into shots that make Jordan Pickford work. Don't be surprised if Wagner throws on Laurent Depoitre after the break.
Allardyce, meanwhile, will likely throw on an extra defender at some point in the second period to see this one out. He has Martina and Funes Mori in reserve.
KICK OFF! Huddersfield get the game back underway. Here comes what could be a huge 45 minutes in their season.
SHOT! Everton are straight on the offensive in the second period. Walcott causes the Huddersfield defence major problems with his pace before squaring a pass to Vlasic, who lets fly from the edge of the box, straight at Jonas Lossl in the Huddersfield goal.
Everton still lead through Tosun's fifth goal of the season. After a tough start to life in England, the Turkey international is proving to be a decent acquistion.
Wagner should really think about making a change now. Everton have started the second period brightly, and if they go 2-0 ahead, it could well be game over for the Terriers. Depoitre could potentially change this game.
There's a let-off for Huddersfield as Baines plays a dangerous cross into their penalty area. There are no Terriers defenders on hand to clear the danger, leaving it to Lossl to race off his line and collect the lofted pass. The hosts are living dangerously right now.
Tosun is receiving treatment on the ground following a nasty collision with a Huddersfield player. He should be okay to soldier on, but the free kick goes Huddersfield's way. They play it short to Pritchard but are unable to create anything after Hogg loses possession.
Here are the scenes after Tosun fired Everton in front. His goal still separates these two teams.
SAVE! Lossl keeps Huddersfield in the game! Vlasic does well to pick out Coleman's run on the right and the Irish wing-back gets a clear sight of goal inside the box. He shoots from an angle, but the Terriers stopper races off his line and makes the block.
SUBSTITUTION: Huddersfield make their first change, throwing on Philip Billing for Collin Quaner. The home fans will likely be asking why it isn't Depoitre who is coming on.
Tosun and Walcott link up well as the Turk slides a through-ball to pick out the ex-Arsenal man's run. Schindler tracks back to apply pressure and quashes the move, doing enough to put Walcott off as the winger trips to the ground.
SUBSTITUTIONS: It's another change for Huddersfield, who withdraw their captain Johnathan Hogg for Malone. Everton, meanwhile, have made a like-for-like swap in midfield, with youngster Tom Davies replacing Wayne Rooney.
CHANCE! Van La Parra does well to carve out space for himself on the byline, over on the right. He picks out Pritchard with a square pass as his teammate arrives in the box, but the midfielder fluffs his lines, slipping over as he pulls the trigger. That was a gaffe and a half!
Malone gets away over on the left and his cross into the six-yard box causes Pickford a few problems. The England goalkeeper spills the ball as he dives to smother it, but there are no Huddersfield players in position to steal it from him. The Everton stopper claims at the second attempt.
As things stand, Everton are on course to win only their sixth away game against Yorkshire opposition in 32 attempts. This win will also see them consolidate eighth place in the table, with Leicester City below them currently trailing at Palace.
Huddersfield have been much improved these past few minutes. They're pressing Everton and have kept the ball in the opposition's half, but what they are really lacking is a quality centre-forward who can make things happen in front of goal.
SUBSTITUTION: Everton's second change is a like-for-like switch up front, with their goalscorer Tosun making way for Niasse.
Everton appear to be sitting deeper after a bright start to the second period. It's almost as if Allardyce's men are daring Huddersfield to attack them, but the Terriers look short on ideas in the final third.
SUBSTITUTIONS: It's one change each as Laurent Depoitre comes on for Rajiv van La Parra for the hosts, and Everton throw on Funes Mori for Vlasic.
Allardyce is clearly aiming to park the bus for the remainder of this game, having withdrawn an attacking player and put on a defender. Meanwhile, Huddersfield will be hoping Depoitre is the man to get them back into this game.
Hudderfield 0-2 Everton (Idrissa Gueye)
Everton double their lead, and it comes through a great team goal. Substitute Niasse refuses to let a lost cause die and manages to squeeze a cross to the feet of Baines on the edge of the box. He squares it to Gueye, who makes the net bulge with a vicious shot!
That should be game, set and match now for Everton. The Hudderfield heads dropped after the first goal went in, so the second is almost certain to have killed them off. It will be a nervy final few games for them.
A corner from Pritchard over on the right causes Everton a few problems. Schindler arrives in the box for a free header but misses it completely, allowing the Blues to frantically clear their lines as more Terriers bodies arrive in the area.
Everton are on course for their first league double over the Terriers since 1951, although it should be pointed out that these two teams haven't spent a great deal of time in the same division.
The other results aren't going Huddersfield's way this weekend, so this defeat is likely to leave them just three points above Southampton, who are in the dropzone. They don't have the easiest run-in either. Their final game of the season is Arsene Wenger's final Premier League match with Arsenal!
The stadium has emptied out now and Huddersfield are offering nothing on the pitch. The only noise inside the ground is coming from the Everton fans.
There will be four minutes of stoppage time to play, but don't expect Huddersfield to conjure up two goals during that!
Everton are just going through the motions now. They don't look like creating any further chances, and Huddersfield don't look like they want to.
FULL TIME: Huddersfield Town 0-2 Everton
Everton make it back-to-back wins in the Premier League and claim a first league double over Huddersfield since 1951. Goals from Cenk Tosun and
Idrissa Gueye have done the damage, and that loss has thrust the Terriers back into relegation danger. That's all we have time for here, but stick with
Sports Mole for our ongoing coverage of this weekend's biggest fixtures. Thanks for reading!