Everton commence their 2026-27 Premier League season against reigning UEFA Conference League champions, Crystal Palace.
Everton will look to improve upon their 13th-placed league finish of last season, whilst Palace finished 15th and are beginning life under new manager – Pierre Sage.
Team News
Everton will be without new signing, Christian Norgaard due to an unspecified injury.
James Garner (groin) and Timothy Iroegbunam (knock) are ruled out.
Palace could be without goalkeeper, Dean Henderson after he suffered an ankle injury during their 3-0 pre-season friendly defeat against Freiburg.
When is Kick-Off?
Everton host Palace at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday 22 August at 3pm BST, untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Everton are unbeaten in their last nine league meetings against Palace (W6, D3).
- Palace are winless in their last 11 league visits to Everton (D4, L7).
- David Moyes’ Toffees kept just two clean sheets in pre-season (W3, D2, L2).
- Palace are winless in their last seven league matches (D3, L4), during which Jean-Philippe Mateta scored in their two recent home games (D1, L1).
Prediction
For all of Everton’s fresh reinforcements in midfield this summer, their biggest issue remains finding a consistent central striker who can finish chances because Beto and Thierno Barry only scored 18 goals between them last season, which is a real worry in a promising team.
Palace meanwhile have been in a summer of transition after losing manager, Oliver Glasner plus Maxence Lacroix but have managed some decent signings, so I expect them to have a solid season but they need to start the campaign well before their Europa League commitments begin in a few weeks.
My instinct towards this game is that it will be close but Everton’s continuity might just be the difference, given that Palace have a lot to adapt to still.
Prediction: Everton 2-1 Crystal Palace
Result: Everton 2-0 Crystal Palace