Key events
Everton v Brighton is not the only 2pm kick-off in the Premier League today. In Croydon we have ‘El CAS-ico’ as Nottingham Forest travel to Crystal Palace. Scott Murray is on for coverage of a testy one at Selhurst Park:
As Moyes hinted at in his chat with Sky, the road to Hill Dickinson Stadium has not always been smooth for Everton. Now they are in, there are hopes it can transform both club and community. More from Andy Hunter:
After the PSR issues that have dogged Everton in the last couple of seasons, Daniel Friedkin’s regime has loosened the purse strings. There’s been seven signings so far this summer for a total of around £80 million, with Tyler Dibling looking likely to take that figure above £100 million. Reports suggest the Southampton winger will be arriving in a deal worth around £42 million, but that wasn’t agreed in time for Dibling to be in the squad today.
Andy Hunter
Andy Hunter with (second) first impression of Everton’s new home:
Just arrived at Hill Dickinson Stadium and first impressions (not counting the previous first impressions from February’s test event) are extremely positive. It’s a beautiful day, so that helps, and thousands of fans were here early to check out Everton’s magnificent new home on the banks of the River Mersey. There were plenty of helpful stewards at Sandhills train station to guide people. And hand out Everton Mints at the exit. Nice touch.
It took 16 minutes to walk from Sandhills to the entrance to the stadium on Regent Road. Inevitably, there appeared to be some teething issues with confusion over road closures, where coaches should park and which entrances to use. There was also some congestion in certain parts of the outside concourse. But it is day one as a fully functioning Premier League stadium. The media facilities are very impressive – a niche point, admittedly – and the same friendly faces who staffed the press room at Goodison Park for years (including floor manager Lisa Hynds) have transferred across. Tony Hibbert is here too. A real blast from the past. So Everton’s new stadium is up and running. Will the same be true of David Moyes’ team?
David Moyes has had a quick chat with Sky Sports during the warmups. The Everton boss was say slightly awkwardly between Pien Meulensteen and Phil Jagielka but managed to say some nice things about leading out Everton today:
“It’s a day in history for everyone here. We’ve got a fantastic, new-looking stadium, now we need a team to match it. I’m hugely privileged (to be in charge) – it was regularly talked about in my first spell here, but things kept falling down. For me to come back as the manager here, it’s a great thrill for me. I’m the fortunate one who gets to lead the team out today.”
Team news!
Everton XI: Pickford, O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Iroegbunam, Garner, Gueye, Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish, Barry.
Subs: Onyango, Armstrong, Aznou, Alcaraz, Coleman, Chermiti, Beto, McNeil, Travers.
Jack Grealish starts his first game, coming in for Carlos Alcaraz (not that one) and Thierno Barry comes in for Beto.
Brighton XI: Verbruggen, Wieffer, van Hecke, Dunk, De Cuyper, Baleba, Ayari, Minteh, O’Riley, Mitoma, Welbeck.
Subs: Steele,Gruda, Hinshelwood, Milner, Boscagli, Kadioglu, Gomez, Veltman, Coppola.
Brighton’s one change is enforced, Georginio Rutter has a slight knock and drops out of the squad, that allows Danny Welbeck to start up top.
Preamble
It is more than a year since Brighton departed Goodison Park for the last time. It was an emotional day for the hosts, as what should have been a start to a glorious to the final season at their famous old home turned sour. By full-time, Everton fans were streaming out of the ground as Brighton eased to a 3-0 win.
So it is that the Seagulls are also Everton’s first visitors of the season for the 2025-26 campaign, but much has changed in the last 12 months. Everton have a different manager in the dugout and a different owner in the stands. Ashley Young is no longer the starting right-back. Jack Grealish has arrived to try and earn a spot on the plane to North America for next summer’s World Cup. Am I missing something?
Ah yes, we’re at Hill Dickinson Stadium now. A spaceship has landed at Bramley-Moore Dock in the shape of a 52,000-seater modern venue and there is, as is customary, a swell of positivity rolling in off the Mersey. David Moyes has already avenged that opening day rollicking from last season, by guiding Everton to an ugly 1-0 win at the Amex in January. His West Ham teams never did that well against Brighton but he has spoken about making Everton fans fall in love with their new surroundings. His side will need to be better than they were against Leeds on Monday night, at least.
Fabian Hürzeler should have had his first win of the season already. Brighton’s performance against Fulham wasn’t that inspiring but to concede from a set-piece with almost the game’s last kick was cruel. The Seagulls are not known as heartbreakers. If anything they regularly provide a cure for long winless runs or spells of poor form – Dr Brighton, if you will.
On any other occasion, this would be a game the Seagulls would be targeting for victory if they want to fulfil their owner’s lofty goal of European qualification. This Everton side represent a pretty good opportunity for an away win, but the new stadium is a complicating factor and also a point of interest. Let’s just hope it’s not 0-0.
