Aston Villa v Everton LIVE - Danny Ings strikes for Villa as both sides target first win of Premier League season

He's going to have to come off here, Tom Davies is being readied.

Elsewhere, Coutinho was booekd a couple of minutes ago.

Villa have upped it since the break, and take the lead. Watkins latches on to a long ball down the right, and cuts infield. He squares it to Ings on the penalty spot, who miscontrols the ball initially but spins out of that and rifles a left-footed drive past Pickford.

Everyone's had some aqua, and off we go again.

Villa have largely been on top here, but just defended two corners in a row horribly. Lampard I'm sure will have taken note.

Everton win a second corner. Tarkowski nods it down to to Gordon in the six-yard box, and at the second attempt he scrambles it past Martinez. Gordon is immediately flagged offside though, and after a VAR check that's proved to be correct.

McNeil will want these last few minutes again. He picks up another loose ball and has Gray in clear space on the left of the area. The pass is woefully overhit though, and Gray does well to win a corner out of it.

A long ball breaks to him on the edge of the box, and for a second there's a pass on to Gordon but he doesn't see it. McNeil then loses the ball and Villa clear.

McGinn gets bags of time to put a cross into the box from the right, but hits a feeble low effort straight at Tarkowski.

Everton release Gordon down the right. He bursts away and tries to take Mings and get into the area. Mings gets an arm across and Gordon hits the deck; they have a look at it, but after a VAR review there's no free kick.

Cash catches Mykolenko sleeping, and races onto a clipped pass in behind him. Cash goes down in the area and Oliver isn't having a bar of it, but replays do show that Mykolenko had a chunk of his shirt. It was outside the area, but that should have been a free kick to Villa.

Mings finds Watkins with a superb, raking pass. Watkins controls it with his head and tries to find Ings, but Coady gers a good foot in.

Despite being caked in water this pitch does look very dry and sticky, with an abnormal hang time for the ball in the air when it bounces. Neither team has really settled into a comfortable bout of possession yet.

Patterson carries the ball forwards after a nice swithc of play from Iwobi, but he can't find Gordon and the attack breaks down. It's a tough shift today for young Gordon, tasked with false-nineing on his own in this searing heat.

He's made a couple of energetic bursts down the left so far. Digne picks up a loose ball on the left after one such run, but his cross is cleared by Holgate.

Cash wins an immediate corner for Villa. McGinn dumps it into the six-yard box and finds Carlos, completely unmarked, who nods it straight over the bar.

We're underway!

The players aren't taking the knee today, but never let the message be forgotten; there is no room in this life for racism.

They're about to walk out onto a pitch that's being furiously watered right up until kick-off. Your referee today is Michael Oliver.

It's been an underwhelming start to the season for both clubs. Everton were beaten at home by Chelsea last Saturday, while Villa were put away 2-0 by Bournemouth. This is hardly win or bust, but a victory here would be something of a filip for both sides.

If you live in the UK you'll be well aware that it is steaming hot across the country today. Birmingham is bright and sweltering this lunchtime, and this could have a considerable affect on the pace of this match. I can't imagine it's all that comfortable for the fans either. Should Premier League matches even be taking place in the midst of an extreme heat wave warning from the Met Office? Given the state of the planet, that's a question that might start coming up more regularly.