Goodbye. Thanks for joining me for what looked like a very tedious afternoon but in the end it was acceptably average, so well done to everyone. Until we meet again.
It was another great day for Swansea as they were able to see off Burnley late on, leaving them outside the relegation zone.
Everton won but not all the fans were too happy at Goodison Park, writes Andy Hunter.
Paul MacInnes reports on the late drama at Stoke as players argued over the penalty taker and Brighton hold on.
Mousa Dembélé is fast becoming the ultimate midfield controller
Javier Hernández strike sets West Ham on the way to victory over Watford, writes Jacob Steinberg.
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The big winners today are Swansea as their victory over Burnley lifts them all the way up to 15th in the league, two points clear of the drop zone, which is about as good as it’s got all season.
Very nice of Sunderland to create some history by coming from three goals down to draw level at Bristol City. What a day it has been for them. Will they be able to build on this?
Full-time: West Ham 2-0 Watford
It was all pretty easy for West Ham in the end as Hernandez and Arnautovic scored for the hosts at the London Stadium.
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Full-time: Stoke 1-1 Brighton
Great drama at the end as Ryan saved Adam’s penalty and then Knockaert cleared a corner off the line to earn his team a point.
Full-time: Swansea 1-0 Burnley
The Welsh side are now unbeaten in nine games thanks to Ki Seung-yeung’s well-struck winner. Great stuff from Carvalhal and his team.
Full-time: Everton 3-1 Crystal Palace
After a tedious first-half, Everton took control of the game just 45 seconds after the break and there was no stopping once Sigurdsson had opened the scoring.
Obviously...
@Will_Unwin There is a 3rd Ayew brother, called Ibrahim Ayew, who plays for Europa FC in Gibraltar
— Zach McGough x (@ThaneAtCawdor) February 10, 2018
MISSED PEN! After Jese and Berahino try to fight for the ball...Adam takes the spot kick but Ryan saves the shot and then Dunk comes in to clear the ball before a lethargic Adam can tap into an empty net.
Sunderland’s finest has witnessed his team drag themselves back from being three goals down to only be losing 3-2. It’s the hope that kills you, Jonathan.
Oh, don't offer hope. Not now. Can't you even just lose limply and quietly and without fuss any more?
— Jonathan Wilson (@jonawils) February 10, 2018
GOAL! Everton 3-1 Crystal Palace
Milivojevic gets Palace back into the game at Goodison Park by scoring from the spot. It came from Williams stopping a Benteke shot with his hands from close range.
It has been a tough day for Palace.
GOAL! Swansea 1-0 Burnley
Ki Seung-yeung gets things going at the Liberty as hits an unstoppable low shot which Pope cannot react to and it flies into the net.
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GOAL! West Ham 2-0 Watford
Arnautovic receives the ball after Holebas smashed the ball into Cresswell in the area, which resulted in the Austrian gaining possession a couple of yards from goal, allowing him to net the second.
GOAL! Everton 3-0 Crystal Palace
Davies nets the third to ensure the points will be staying at Goodison. The midfielder got the ball in the box after Sigurdsson’s pass was deflection into Davies’s path.
Teams: Manchester City v Leicester
Man City: Ederson, Walker, Laporte, Otamendi, Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Sterling, Bernardo, Aguero.
Subs: Bravo, Danilo, Kompany, Stones, Nmecha, Foden, Diaz.
Leicester: Schmeichel, Dragovic, Maguire, Fuchs, Albrighton, Silva, Ndidi, James, Chilwell, Diabate, Vardy.
Subs: Jakupovic, Simpson, Benalouane, Iborra, Gray, Mahrez, Iheanacho.
Referee: Mike Jones
A proud moment for Shaqiri. Berahino is now on for Stoke. Will that help Stoke? Probably not.
2 - Xherdan Shaqiri has scored in back-to-back Premier League games for the first time in his career. Placement.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 10, 2018
GOAL! Stoke 1-1 Brighton
It’s all square at the bet365 as Shaqiri hits the ball through a group and it dips just in front of Ryan who can do nothing other than watch the ball go into the bottom corner.
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You do not want to be the bar when Jon Parkin hits it. Might still be shaking next Saturday.
65:MISSSSS!!!!! Parkin hits the bar and its still shaking! 1-0
— Salford City FC (@SalfordCityFC) February 10, 2018
Can you do similar for Swansea v Burnley, please?
@Will_Unwin just to let you know I went & fixed my kitchen tap while Everton scored 2, a watched pot and all that.
— tony rutt (@tony_rutt) February 10, 2018
Charles emails in after reading his big book of jokes...
He says: “Do they have an elder brother, given to bad jokes, called Ithank Ayew?”
It’s still Blackburn 0-2 Oldham at Ewood Park thanks to Duckens Nazon. The sub-plot there being Jordan Benteke on the bench for the visitors. Who are your favourite lesser-known footballing brothers?
We all feel for you, Owen.
“Re: the finest of premier league combinations, I took Oumar out this week. What a pain in Niasse!”
Jordan Ayew and Andre Ayew are back together again. Can they lead Swansea to survival?
59 - Swansea sub: A Ayew for Olsson. 0-0
— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) February 10, 2018
Oumar Niasse seems a lot happier than Gylfi Sigurdsson here.
This is finest of Premier League combinations. Most fantasy league managers will probably have them in their team.
Goal - NIASSE
— Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) February 10, 2018
Assist - MARTINA
Everton 2-0 Crystal Palace (51 mins)#FPL #EVECRY
GOAL! Everton 2-0 Crystal Palace
Martina sends a cross to Niasse in a shedload of space eight yards from goal, allowing the striker to nod the ball calm into the net. All very simple for the Toffees now. Must have helped them to lose Mangala.
Mr Mahrez lives out his dream at the Etihad.
Looks like Riyad M out having a nice chat with team-mates on Etihad pitch: hold da front page😎😎😎
— jamie jackson (@JamieJackson___) February 10, 2018
GOAL! Everton 1-0 Crystal Palace
After 45 seconds of the second-half, Sigurdsson and Everton have come good. The midfielder has put the Toffees ahead after his deflected shot defeated the goalkeeper.
Remember Sunderland admitting that their fans could not be blamed for exiting Ashton Gate with their team losing 3-0? Well they have deleted the offending tweet. They are just saying what we’re all thinking? PC gone mad!
It’s only half an hour until the Manchester City v Leicester City line-ups are announced. Surely that will make the footballing day better.
Poor (the natural prefix) Eliaquim Mangala. Manchester City must be desperate that he is not sent back to them.
Let’s hope we get a few more celebrations after the break. At least Hernandez really enjoyed it. Maybe he was celebrating for all of us.
Elsewhere in world football...Batshuayi has scored again for Dortmund. Who knew football was so easy?
⚽️ JAAAAAAAAA! #bvbhsv 1-0 pic.twitter.com/PUquDBuMjE
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) February 10, 2018
So Mangala’s game is already over. What a great day for him.
45' Blues forced into making their first change of the afternoon as Mangala hobbles off with an injury. Ashley Williams is his replacement. #EFCmatchday
— Everton (@Everton) February 10, 2018
🔵 0-0 🦅
🔈 https://t.co/JanqlF8N1I
💻 https://t.co/3QVS8fncTs pic.twitter.com/06jLQHNDXg
Better news for teams wearing red and white stripes.
Things really are bad at Sunderland...
40' The #redandwhite army are heading for the exits and to be perfectly honest you can't blame them.
— Sunderland AFC 🔴⚪ (@SunderlandAFC) February 10, 2018
Minega disagrees on Everton v Palace.
He says: “Confused by all the messages saying the Everton-Crystal Palace game is boring. Watching it at the moment and I’m enjoying it so far.”
Down in the Championship, Sunderland are having a shocking day, as they are currently trailing 3-0 at Bristol City. Chris Coleman might have wished he stayed with Wales, as Gareth Bale is good and Sunderland are not.
Duckens Nazon has scored again for Oldham at Blackburn. He’s having a great afternoon.
GOAL! West Ham 1-0 Watford
There’s no denying Hernandez on this occasion as he does some trademark movement to ensure he gets onto the end of a Antonio cross, flicking it into the net from close range.
DISALLOWED GOAL! Hernandez heads one into the back of the net for West Ham but much to his chagrin the assistant has his flag raised. It seemed pretty close but the officials did not side with the Mexican striker.
GOAL! Stoke 0-1 Brighton
After a pretty tedious opening 30 minutes of football as Brighton’s Izquierdo has given us reason to carry on, as he enjoys a one-two before sending the ball into the corner, just beyond Butland.
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More news from Everton v Palace...
I am just penning a letter to The Knowledge to ask what’s the fewest number of goals scored in a Premier League weekend.
@Will_Unwin I'm watching Everton vs Crystal Palace. The nicest thing I can say about it is that it's a great reason to take up watching Russian avant garde cinema instead.
— Half Darren Half Ginger Biscuit (@DarrenMWinter) February 10, 2018
But the Mangala comedy might be worth it, Ian.
“Because I like football I decided to try and watch the Everton game. I have stopped now.”
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The Lancashire derby in League One between Blackburn and Oldham has seen a goal as the wonderfully named Duckens Nazon opens the scoring for the visitors at Ewood Park. There can’t be many better names in football.
Due to the lack of goals, we can now all discuss this handshake in more detail.
JR has been on: “As you can see from the picture I accurately described Hodgson’s visage. What I forgot to add and which you can just sort of start to see forming is that Big Sam broke out in a wide, leering, vulgar grin after the handshake. What a distasteful man.”
Financial journalist Alex Netherton has emailed in to point out that there has been a goal today. He obviously knows what a number is.
Alex says: “There’s a league goal in the Spurs-Arsenal game.”
You know it’s a quiet afternoon when the club’s official account is describing a game as “slow”. This is the “BEST LEAGUE IN THE WORLD” surely the games should be relentlessly quick.
📸 Slow game so far, City struggling to gather momentum as Brighton sit-back and look to hit on the break (0-0) #SCFC pic.twitter.com/AkIH3iej9E
— Stoke City FC (@stokecity) February 10, 2018
No goals in the Premier League as we approach the 20-minute mark. Maybe we should all focus on the Football League where things look far more fun, well they have goals at least.
Proof of the handshake. What an emotional moment it was.
I’ve set up a Mangala Twitter search and it does not reflect favourably on the Everton defender. Sadly, I am unable to reproduce many of the tweets here as they use naughty words that my mother would not appreciate. He is not playing well.
JR emails in...
“I can confirm that Hodgson and Allardyce shook hands. I would add that Hodgson’s face was like thunder.
“As a West Brom fan I can’t be bothered to figure out what results would benefit my team so I think I’ll just root for everyone to lose. (And I’ll root for Allardyce to lose twice. I don’t care for him on.”
A relief for us all.
Things are not improving for Mangala as he fails to produce a competent backpass when under no pressure, putting Pickford into trouble and his clearance only makes it as far as Cabaye but he fails to get his shot on target from 35 yards.
News just in from tactics corner...
Antonio’s punishment for being late to a team meeting?
We've lined up in a 5-3-2. Michail is starting at left wing back.
— West Ham United (@WestHamUtd) February 10, 2018
Chicha and Arnie up top. #WHUWAT 0-0 (5)
The strangest selection change to day arrived at Sky Sports HQ, as Kammy was called up to replace Merson.
Been drafted into the @SoccerSaturday studio with Unbelievable Jeff & the boys. Merse not feeling well 🤧today & am watching West Ham v Watford pic.twitter.com/Os7xqySZh0
— Chris Kamara (@chris_kammy) February 10, 2018
My eyeballs did not see it...
Ian asks: “Did we have any eyeballs on the Allardyce-Hodgson handshake/headbutt? When one does not care about a game it’s the gossip that matters.”
Izquierdo almost gave Brighton the lead at Stoke but Butland was equal to his curling shot in the opening stages of the game at the Britannia/bet365.
James Forrest is the man...
We're off!
Whistles are blowing all round the country and we’ll have all the goals as they fly/trickle in.
Simon has been in touch: “If it’s mediocre you want look no further than Scotland, even on Scottish Cup weekend. Celtic laboured to a 3-2 victory over Partick Thistle in the early kick off, despite being two up inside 10 minutes.
“Other ties include Cove Rangers v Falkirk, Brora Rangers v Kilmarnock, Hearts v St. Johnstone and Aberdeen v Dundee United (tomorrow). Don’t expect any romance, even if it is Valentines Day next week. In Scottish League One it’s Raith v Airdrie and Alloa v Forfar, and in League Two it’s Cowdenbeath v Stirling, Montrose v Stenhousmuir, and Annan make a 500 mile round trip to face Elgin. Early start for the travelling fans, especially if they’re walking.” And I would walk 500 more.
All football clubs should be represented by their greatest player’s head, likes Spurs are in South Korea.
A team of Son Heung-Mins is 1-0 up v Arsenal, according to S Korean TV pic.twitter.com/yXk5V7AS8L
— tariq panja (@tariqpanja) February 10, 2018
This is what Mangala brings to the party. Can he beat this level of speed today?
Patrice Evra’s Manchester United debut - and introduction to English football - was getting dominated by Trevor Sinclair in a 3-1 defeat to Manchester City when the Premier League leaders were rubbish. He did so badly that he was subbed off at half-time, being replaced by Alan Smith. Surely it could not go as badly today.
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The ‘plus Mangala’ bit might be the problem...
I do fear that poor Eliaquim might not find his feet at Everton as he really is not very good.
@Will_Unwin Same Everton team (plus Mangala) that beat Leicester, only decent performance of the year. Don't worry, though, if we lose Allardyce will find someone to blame other than himself.
— Robin Cannon (@shinytoyrobots) February 10, 2018
There has already been one game today. Read David Hytner’s report to find out about Harry Kane’s winner against Arsenal.
Peaking the rate of interest at Goodison Park is the Governor of the Bank of England.
🔵 | We welcome Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, to Goodison Park today. #EITC30 pic.twitter.com/sqGXL5Er5u
— Everton in the Community (@EITC) February 10, 2018
It’s pretty tight down at the bottom of the old Premier League currently...
Stoke and Swansea could lift themselves up a few places with a win today as their closest rivals are not playing.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Newcastle | 26 | -12 | 25 |
| 17 | Swansea | 26 | -18 | 24 |
| 18 | Stoke | 26 | -26 | 24 |
| 19 | Huddersfield | 26 | -27 | 24 |
| 20 | West Brom | 26 | -16 | 20 |
Our resident West Ham fan, Jacob Steinberg has a few concerns about he defence today against Watford.
Attacking team from West Ham today. Antonio and Arnautovic both starting with Mario for the first time. But suspect Watford will fancy their chances against a rather slow back four.
— Jacob Steinberg (@JacobSteinberg) February 10, 2018
Well this is awkward...Big Sam said he could not play Sigurdsson and Rooney in the same team but due to Everton being a bit rubbish recently, he has been forced to bring the dynamic duo together in the hope they lead the Toffees to a win over Palace.
One man not featuring for Everton today is Ademola Lookman who is out having fun at RB Leipzig. Liam Rosenior says he is the blueprint for young British players heading abroad.
You can get in touch in the usual places so we can all decide which is the most mediocre game of the day. The details are posted above, I believe.
There’s no Peter Crouch for Stoke today, which Paul Lambert says is “a blow” but at least he’s not been forced to play Saido Berahino.
🗣️ Paul Lambert on today's side:
— Stoke City FC (@stokecity) February 10, 2018
'Losing @petercrouch is a blow because he played well last week. We've brought Darren Fletcher in because I think it's a different kind of game to what we faced last week'#SCFC 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/gEERDY79ot
David Sullivan is unhappy as West Ham fans are unhappy which makes me unhappy. He is so unhappy he has released a message to the fans in the hope of making them happier. Will this work?
He said: “I want to speak directly to our supporters and say how important it is that we all pull together during these times. We haven’t had the success we would like. We accept there have been failures.
“I know the fans are not happy and that makes me unhappy. We want more ups than downs. The supporters want more ups than downs. And we’ve had a few too many downs and not enough ups. We know we’ve got to do better. And we’re trying to find a set-up that, long-term, will deliver better.”
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The real action at Goodison Park will be off the pitch as Allardyce and Hodgon meet...
Teams: Swansea v Burnley
Swansea: Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez, van der Hoorn, Mawson, Olsson, Ki Seung-yeung, Dyer, Carroll, Clucas, J Ayew.
Subs: Nordfeldt, Bartley, King, Routledge, Narsingh, A Ayew, Abraham.
Burnley: Pope, Lowton, Long, Mee, Taylor, Cork, Hendrick, Gudmundsson, Lennon, Barnes, Vokes.
Subs: Lindegaard, Nkoudou, Westwood, Wells, Ward, Arfield, O’Neill.
Referee: Andre Marriner
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Teams: Stoke v Brighton
Stoke: Butland, Bauer, Shawcross, Zouma, Pieters; Fletcher, Shaqiri, Allen, Badou, Choupo-Moting, Diouf
Subs: Grant; Johnson, Berahino, Jese, Adam, Cameron, Ramadan
Brighton: Ryan; Schelotto, Duffy, Dunk, Bong; March, Stephens, Pröpper, Izquierdo; Gross; Murray.
Subs: Krul, Bruno. Goldson, Kayal, Knockkaert, Ulloa, Locadia.
Referee: Bobby Madley
Teams: West Ham v Watford
West Ham: Adrian, Zabaleta, Collins, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Noble, Kouyate, Arnautovic, Joao Mario, Anotonio, Hernandez
Subs: Hart, Rice, Fonte, Cullen, Byram, Evra, Hugill
Watford: Karnezis; Mariappa, Prödl, Holebas; Janmaat, Doucouré, Capoue, Zeegelaar; Deulofeu, Deeney (C), Richarlison.
Subs: Bachmann, Mukena, Ndong, Pereyra, Lukebakio, Carrillo, Gray.
Referee: Graham Scott
Teams: Everton v Crystal Palace
Everton: Pickford, Coleman, Keane, Mangala, Martina, Davies, Gueye, Rooney, Walcott, Sigurdsson, Niasse.
Subs: Robles, Schneiderlin, Williams, Bolasie, Tosun, Calvert-Lewin, Kenny.
Crystal Palace: Hennessey, Ward, Fosu-Mensah, Tomkins, Van Aanholt, Townsend, Cabaye, Milivojevic, McArthur, Sorloth, Benteke.
Subs: Henry, Souare, Riedewald, Delaney, Lee, Wan-Bissaka, Rakip.
Referee: Jonathan Moss
Preamble
Now that the good game is out of the way, we can focus on the prospect of eight teams who will be pretty content with staying up at the end of the season.
As with most weeks, Sam Allardyce faces one of his former clubs as Crystal Palace come to town as the Everton boss hopes he can turn things around after five games without a win, including their 5-1 thrashing at Arsenal last week. There will be two former England managers in the dugout at Goodison, allowing Big Sam to find out what it’s like to fail at a major tournament when managing your country.
Stoke v Brighton is not a fixture to excite on paper but you never know, because … erm … Paul Lambert and his band of Champions League winners have not lost in two whole games, which is pretty exciting for the residents of Stoke. Although, Brighton are no pushovers currently as they can also boast four points from the last two games, which is exciting! It probably just means this will be a draw.
Swansea’s owners have admitted to making mistakes this week and they will be hoping the potential return of Andre Ayew today will not be on of those. Burnley meanwhile have their very own hero in Ben Mee who has spent the week being turned into a viral hit following his challenge on Bernardo Silva.
Last but probably not least is West Ham versus Watford which could allow us the dream of seeing Patrice Evra returning to the Premier League at the ripe old age of 36. Will it be just another 90 minutes of fans shouting “Sack the board!” join me to find out …
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