Premier League
Everton vs. Crystal Palace kicks off at 20:00 [GMT+1] on Saturday, August 22, at the Hill Dickenson Stadium. Everton will rekindle their rivalry with Palace in an opening Premier League encounter, having finished in 13th place last term. A number of pre-season club friendlies have produced mixed results, leaving the Toffees somewhat ready for the new season. They will be looking to put an end to a poor sequence of opening-day results and extend their impressive recent record against the Eagles. This will be the third time Everton and Palace have met in the opening Premier League fixture of a season. Palace are unbeaten in the previous two, winning 2-1 at Goodison Park in 1997-98 before the teams played out a goalless draw at Selhurst Park in 2019-20. The wider head-to-head record is considerably more favourable for Everton. Crystal Palace have managed only one victory in their last 23 Premier League meetings with the Toffees, drawing 10 and losing 12. Everton's recent opening-day record provides a sharp contrast. They have lost their first league match in each of the previous four Premier League seasons, equalling their longest sequence of opening-game defeats. More concerningly, the Toffees failed to score in all four losses. No team in English top-flight history has lost its opening fixture without scoring in five consecutive seasons. David Moyes will be keen to avoid that unwanted record when he puts together a 4—2—3—1 formation with Thierno Barry in attack.
Palace, who were relatively effective away from home last season, will be looking to pick up valuable points in their opening away match on Saturday. Last term, where they finished in 15th place, they collected 24 of their 45 Premier League points on the road, meaning 53% of their total came away from home. Only Tottenham and Nottingham Forest earned a higher proportion of their points on their travels. However, Palace failed to win any of their final four away fixtures, recording one draw and three defeats. Meanwhile, clean sheets have often been important to Palace on the opening weekend. They have recorded one in five of their last eight Premier League openers, including a 0-0 draw with Chelsea last season. Conversely, they have lost each of their last five opening fixtures in which they conceded. Set pieces could provide Everton with an opportunity. Excluding penalties, Palace conceded 20 set-piece goals last season, the joint-highest total in the Premier League. Those goals represented 39% of everything they conceded, the highest proportion in the division. A 3—4—2—1 formation with Jean-Philippe Mateta in attack is expected against Everton.