Key events
Team news: Newcastle v Wolves
Newcastle (4-3-3): Dubravka; Livramento, Botman, Burn, Hall; Guimarães, Tonali, Joelinton; Jacob Murphy, Isak, Gordon. Subs: Vlachodimos, Trippier, Krafth, Osula, Almirón, Kelly, Willock, Longstaff, Miley.
Wolves (3-4-2-1): Jose Sá; Doherty, Bueno, Agbadou; Rodrigo Gomes, André Trindade, João Gomes, Aït-Nouri; Guedes, Hwang; Larsen.
Subs: Johnstone, Cunha, Dawson, Doyle, Sarabia, Nelson Semedo, Forbs, Bellegarde, Pedro Lima.
Team news: Leicester v Crystal Palace
Leicester (4-2-3-1): Stolarczyk; Justin, Faes, Vestergaard, Kristiansen; Soumaré, Winks; Buonanotte, El Khannous, Mavididi; Vardy.
Subs: Iversen, Coady, De Cordova-Reid, Choudhury, Ayew, Daka, Skipp, Thomas, McAteer.
Crystal Palace (3-4-2-1): Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi; Muñoz, Hughes, Lerma, Mitchell; Sarr, Eze; Mateta.
Subs: Turner, Nketiah, Schlupp, Clyne, Kamada, Doucoure, Riad, Devenny, Kporha.
No sweeping changes from David Moyes, who sticks with the back five that Sean Dyche sent out against Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth. With Armando Broja injured, Moyes starts Dominic Calvert-Lewin up front and opts for Jack Harrison over Jesper Lindstrøm out wide.
As for Villa, seven of the team who started against West Ham in the FA Cup stay in the starting XI, with John McGinn still out with a hamstring injury. Both teams could line up in either a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, depending on how adventurous their managers are feeling.
Everton v Aston Villa: team news
Everton (4-3-3): Pickford; Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Mangala, Gueye, Doucouré; Harrison, Ndiaye, Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: Virginia, Begovic, Patterson, Keane, Beto, O’Brien, Lindstrom, Armstrong, Sherif.
Aston Villa (4-3-3): Martínez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne; Kamara, Onana, Tielemans; Rogers, Ramsey, Watkins.
Subs: Gauci, Olsen, Dúran, Buendia, Nedeljkovic, Maatsen, Bogarde, Bailey, Jimoh.
Preamble
David Moyes last managed an Everton side in the Premier League on 12 May 2013, when his team defeated West Ham to secure sixth place, one spot above Liverpool. While he headed off to replace Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, Everton missed out on Europe because Wigan Athletic and Swansea City won the domestic Cups. Bill Kenwright tried to sugar the pill by appointing the Wigan manager, Roberto Martínez, as Moyes’ replacement.
Tonight’s opponents, Aston Villa, have dropped down to the Championship, come back up and finished in the top four in the 12 years since Moyes’ departure. As for the other teams in action tonight: Crystal Palace came fifth and won the playoffs in 2013, finishing one place above Leicester, who won the Championship the following year and then the ruddy Premier League in 2015-16.
Newcastle were mired in the Mike Ashley era and have since gone down, bounced back up and become a Saudi-backed powerhouse; Wolves were relegated from the second tier a week before Moyes’ departure and subsequently climbed back to the Premier League. Meanwhile, Everton have bobbed about like a stray football in the Mersey, sinking from fifth in Martínez’s first season into a perpetual relegation battle.
Moyes insists he has not come back to Everton almost 12 years later to get stuck in a survival dogfight, though whether he has the skill and resources to give himself a choice is another matter. Nobody knows how his unexpected return to Goodison will pan out, but there is enough mutual goodwill in the bank to earn him a warm welcome back.
