Everton vs Crystal Palace LIVE commentary: Eagles without Hodgson for crunch six-point relegation clash – kick-off time, team news and how to follow

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Premier League strugglers Everton and Crystal Palace will meet in a crunch relegation six-point showdown tonight, live on talkSPORT.

The Toffees are languishing in the bottom three, but are only five points and two places below the Eagles in sixteenth.

No Premier League team is on a worse current run than Everton

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No Premier League team is on a worse current run than EvertonCredit: Getty

Sean Dyche's side know they would be safe without their ten-point deduction, but are still waiting on their first league victory of 2024.

Everton haven't secured a Premier League win since mid-December but can leapfrog Luton Town to move within two points of Palace.

The visitors, meanwhile, are enduring their own turbulent season after suffering heavy back-to-back defeats to Brighton and Chelsea.

Palace have also already lost at Goodison Park this season, falling to a 1-0 defeat there last month in an FA Cup third round replay.

Everton vs Crystal Palace: No Hodgson

Palace will once again be without manager Roy Hodgson as he continues to recover from illness.

Palace are yet to issue an update on the 76-year-old's health since confirming he was 'stable and undergoing tests' in hospital after falling ill at the club's training ground.

It remains unclear who will take the reins tonight, though the likeliest candidates are Hodgson's right-hand man Ray Lewington and assistant manager Paddy McCarthy.

The pair took charge for Palace's 3-1 away defeat to Aston Villa in September when a previous illness landed Hodgson in hospital.

Hodgson was taken ill at Palace training on Thursday

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Hodgson was taken ill at Palace training on ThursdayCredit: Getty In all competitions, Everton’s only win in their last 11 games (D5 L5) was at home against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup in January. Having already beaten them in the Premier League this season, the Toffees are looking to win three games against an opponent in a season for the first time since 2019-20 vs Watford. Everton manager Sean Dyche has won seven Premier League matches against Crystal Palace, only winning more against Bournemouth (8). He’s unbeaten in seven against the Eagles (W4 D3) since a 2-0 defeat with Burnley in November 2019. Following their 3-2 win at Selhurst Park back in November, Everton are looking to complete their first league double over Crystal Palace since 2004-05.

Simon Jordan doesn't think Crystal Palace will be relegated from the Premier League this season

Everton vs Crystal Palace: What has been said?

Dyche has not been discouraged by Everton's run of seven games without a win, saying:  "Some of the performances have been very good, with clean sheets and points in there against tough sides.

"There are lots of positive signs - we just need to score more goals and I think we all know that."

On the well-being of counterpart Hodgson, Dyche added: "Bigger than the game is his health and we hope he comes through that no problem.

"We want that more than anything."

Palace took the lead against Chelsea before suffering  a second-half collapse

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Palace took the lead against Chelsea before suffering a second-half collapseCredit: Getty After winning back-to-back away league games against Everton 3-2 in 2014, Crystal Palace are winless in their last eight visits to Goodison Park (D3 L5). Everton have drawn their last two Premier League matches at Goodison Park – they haven’t drawn three in a row at home since a run of four in January/February 2015. Since a run of four consecutive Premier League wins in December, Everton haven’t won any of their last seven games (D3 L4). They have only scored four times in this run and failed to find the net in four of their last five.

Everton vs Crystal Palace: Team news

Everton have been handed a welcome boost of Seamus Coleman and Amadou Onana's return but Abdoulaye Doucoure remains a doubt.

However, Arnaut Danjuma and Andre Gomes are still sidelined alongside long-term absentee Dele Alli.

For Palace, Cheick Doucoure, Rob Holding, Michael Olise, and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi are all out for the foreseeable future.

It is yet to be seen whether Marc Guehi, Eberechi Eze, and Will Hughes can be fit to make the trip here.

Everton's point deduction could see some of their stars leave in the coming months

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Everton's point deduction could see some of their stars leave in the coming monthsCredit: Getty Crystal Palace have lost their last three away Premier League matches, shipping 11 goals in these games. The Eagles haven’t lost more consecutively since losing their final four away games in the 2019-20 season. This will be Crystal Palace’s second successive Premier League match played on a Monday, after their 1-3 defeat to Chelsea last week. Indeed, it will be the Eagles’ 16th Monday fixture in the competition over the last four seasons (2020-21 to 2023-24), at least two more than any other club. In all competitions, Everton’s only win in their last 11 games (D5 L5) was at home against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup in January. Having already beaten them in the Premier League this season, the Toffees are looking to win three games against an opponent in a season for the first time since 2019-20 vs Watford.

Everton vs Crystal Palace: talkSPORT coverage

This Premier League clash will take place on Monday, February 19.

Kick-off at Goodison Park is scheduled for 8pm.

talkSPORT will have live and exclusive coverage from Merseyside, presented by Adrian Durham.

Commentary comes from Sam Matterface and former England midfielder Danny Murphy.

To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream. You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

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