Key events
20 mins: Everton’s main attacking ploy seems to be to whack the ball out to the right to O’Brien and hope he can produce something.
James gets a chance to attack Garner and drills a low cross but it is not a great delivery and Everton clear their lines.
18 mins: Everton are seriously struggling to get out of their own half here. I think they might want to get Dewsbury-Hall on the ball more.
16 mins: Chaos in the Everton boss. An inswinger corner is not cleared and comes back into the box, Pickford comes to claim but it reaches Tanaka first. The midfielder nods it back across the six-yard box, but Everton scramble clear.
14 mins: Leeds are putting the pressure on Everton and the crowd are loving it. They have a second corner in quick succession … but it comes to nothing. Leeds do, however, quickly win the ball back.
12 mins: Leeds are looking the brighter side here. A little more zip and intent about their play. Gnonto goes down the left and gets to the byline but his cross is turned behind at the last second.
10 mins: Gudmundsson sprints towards O’Brien to whack the ball behind the Everton net for a goal-kick, much to the delight of the home fans. Everyone likes aggressive.
Leeds win the ball back in the Everton half, getting it up to Piroe quickly, he gets it out of his feet and fires at goal, only to see his shot deflected wide.
8 mins: Everton are looking to play out from the back here, rather than trying to find Beto as soon as possible, leaving him a touch isolated.
6 mins: BIG CHANCE! Gnonto fires a pass into the box, which Tarkowski can’t intercept, allowing Piroe a shot from close range but Pickford is out quickly to block. The corner is dangerous but the goalkeeper once again comes up big when required.
4 mins: Everton are also looking pretty aggressive in their play, eager to give Leeds as little to cheer about as possible.
2 mins: The Leeds fans are understandably up for it, and the players don’t look too far behind them.
Garner starts on the left-hand side of defence for Everton. Let’s see how that works out.
“I was disappointed at the lack of s..thousery at Old Trafford yesterday,” says Richard Hirst, “but I’m sure I can rely on the heirs of Big Dunc and Bites Yer Legs to give us plenty of Scenes Nobody Wants To See. So come on dogs of war and hard but fair, get stuck in.
“On a completely different note, it’s great to see Mary Waltz back and on form.”
Kick off
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
Here come the teams …
Matt Burtz writes: “I wish you had been on Football Weekly’s preview of Everton because I almost threw my phone threw the window when I heard that two of the panelists thought Everton would go down. This team finished with the joint fourth fewest goals allowed last season, and if they had had any semblance of an attack in the first half they could have challenged for the European places. (Their xG per 90 minutes was only slightly worse than that of Nottingham Forest.) Moyes did a remarkable job of steering the ship to competence and then safety, in that order, and with the new acquisitions I’m hopeful that a top ten finish is in the cards.”
I’ve just had a look at my prediction on the table and I said 11th.
Gary Neville is caught on camera announcing “they are the one group of fans I wouldn’t go anywhere near” when the home crowd is on screen.
Get your fill from the weekend’s action.
David Moyes on Beto: “If you look at Beto’s goals last season, he was incredible when I arrived. I felt in pre-season we didn’t score any goals, and I was critical of him as I wanted him to get off to a good start. Beto did well for us last season and there’s no reason to change him.”
“Greetings from California,” says Mary Waltz. “This Everton fan is so hyped about the new stadium. stadiums don’t put goals in the net. But it will give them the economic heft to keep talent and attract talent as well. Watching Richarlison score on that amazing bicycle kick was so bittersweet because he used to be ours, not Spurs. COYB.”
“Evening, Will,” writes Ian Copestake. “Glad to see Leeds investing in physical players.rather than AI-generated ones.”
Jeremy Boyce emails: “Not So Nasty As They Used To Be Leeds fan here, sweltering in the south of France. Interesting to see that the whole narrative is now about Jackie boy (must have a good PR), a good job well done given his wasted years at the Etihad and drunken car crash. When actually the narrative is that, a year ago, before the return of laser-eyes Moyes to his spiritual home, Leeds would have seen this as a given three points welcome home to the promised land. With or without Grealish this will be a stern, laser-eyed test of their credentials. They’ll be already looking forward to the visit of West Ham later in the season.”
I would argue, he did win quite a lot while he was there, including one excellent season. He started – and won – a Champions League final.
A lot of the pre-match talk around Finch Farm was about Jack Grealish.
Daniel Farke says the Leeds squad will be competitive for the opening games until the international break but if they want to survive in the Premier League, they need to invest. Glorious honest from the Leeds head coach.
Jack Harrison is on the bench for Leeds. He last played for the club in 2023 and has spent the past two seasons out on loan … at Everton.
Pre-match reading:
No Calvert-Lewin at all for Leeds, and Grealish is on the bench for Everton. We do have debuts for Perri, Gudmundsson and Stach for the hosts, while Dewsbury-Hall is in for the Toffees.
Lineups
Leeds: Perri; Bogle, Rodon, Struijk, Gudmundsson; Ampadu, Tanaka, Stach; James, Piroe, Gnonto
Subs: Darlow, Byram, Bornauw, Longstaff, Ramazani, Harrison, Nmecha, Gruev, Aaronson
Everton: Pickford, Garner, Keane, Tarkowski, O’Brien; Dewsbury-Hall, Garner, Gueye; Alcaraz, Beto, Ndiaye
Subs: Travers, Tyrer, McNeil, Barry, Chermiti, Grealish, Coleman, Armstrong, Onyango
Preamble
The Premier League is back in town at Elland Road. After two seasons away, Leeds will desperately be hoping they stay longer than a year at the top table. Daniel Farke’s plan to try and make that a serious possibility has seen investment over the summer in physical players, ensuring Leeds can cope with what this division has to offer. The most recent man through the door, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, certainly has the capabilities of being an asset, especially because he cost them absolutely nothing. After missing pre-season, it would seem unlikely he will be starting in tonight’s opener but we will see if he is called upon off the bench against his former club Everton.
Everton supporters were potentially expecting a few more arrivals to add to the positivity surrounding new owners and stadium. It was a bit of a slow burner but Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Jack Grealish seem like smart additions, along with new forward Thierno Barry. The start of recent seasons has been surrounded with questions over whether the team can survive another year in the Premier League but under David Moyes, those fears have dissipated and they are finally looking up.
Kick-off: 8pm BST
