Key events
“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
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