Leeds will celebrate their return to the Premier League by hosting Everton at Elland Road on Monday 18th August at 8pm. This will be the Yorkshire club’s first season in England’s top division in two years, while the Toffees are full of optimism following the signing of Jack Grealish and moving to a new stadium. Fans in the UK can watch the game live on Sky Sports Premier League.
Joel Piroe to score anytime (9/4 with Sky Bet)
Joel Piroe scored 11 goals in 17 appearances at Elland Road during the 2024-25 Championship season. The Dutchman also finished as the competition’s leading scorer with 19 goals. Despite the signing of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, he’s expected to lead the line in this opening fixture.
Draw (9/4 with Sky Bet)
Everton were the Premier League’s draw specialists last season, clocking up a division-high 15 stalemates. Seven of those came following David Moyes’ return to the club, including four 1-1 draws in five matches between February 26th and April 5th.
Leeds were also no strangers to a draw last season, picking up 13 of them in the Championship, while they also ran out level in their last three friendlies of the summer against Manchester United, Villarreal and AC Milan.
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How both teams go into Leeds vs Everton
At the second time of asking, Leeds have left the Championship by securing Premier League promotion, and they did so in style. Leeds won the division, accumulating 100 points with 29 victories and netting an impressive 95 goals.
No team was better at home, with the Peacocks securing 18 wins at Elland Road and 61 goals while only conceding 12 times. And it’s where they start, which needs to be something of a fortress if they are to maintain their long-awaited status. Daniel Farke’s men performed slightly better in front of their own audience, with 58% of their Championship wins being at home.
Leeds have been busy in the market, signing the likes of Anton Stach, Sean Longstaff and, most recently, Calvert-Lewin — with the latter even in line to make his debut against the club he just left.
Three wins from their opening 19 matches last season, which also yielded eight defeats, saw the end of Sean Dyche’s reign at Everton, with the Toffees re-hiring long-serving boss David Moyes to steer the ship and maintain their top-flight status heading into a new era. Moyes did just that, winning eight of his 19 matches in charge (including the last three on the bounce) to see out the 2024-25 season.
Everton would finish the season above Europa League finalists Manchester United and Tottenham, but when it came to away-day performances, they accumulated the same number of points on the road as at home (24), but the Merseyside club picked up more wins (6-5) away from home.
The Toffees now move into a brand new stadium on the banks of the River Mersey, and have completed some eye-catching signings this summer, such as Jack Grealish, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Thierno Barry.
While returning as perennial European challengers seems like a stretch for a club that has been in transition, fans are hoping for a big improvement after four years at the wrong end of the table.
Starting away from home at Leeds will not be easy, but it’ll prove to be a good acid test for Moyes and Everton before they officially open Hill Dickinson Stadium against Brighton next week.
Leeds team news
Sam Greenwood is ruled out with a muscle problem, while there are concerns over Jayden Bogle and Sebastiaan Bornauw.
While it would be exciting to see Calvert-Lewin start against his former club, it’s unlikely, with Daniel Farke already insisting he’ll be managing the striker’s fitness.
Jaka Bijol is suspended after getting sent off in his last game for Udinese before making the Elland Road switch.
Everton team news
Everton will be without Vitalii Mykolenko after he limped off early in the friendly against Roma, so new signing Adam Aznou could be in line for a shock start at left-back after arriving from Bayern Munich.
Nathan Patterson is also out, but Jake O’Brien has been the preferred choice at right-back under Moyes, despite being a natural centre-back.
Thierno Barry will need an adjustment period to English football, so Beto may well start up front, despite being linked to Leeds this summer.
Meanwhile, Grealish and Dewsbury-Hall could start to offer a serious injection of class to Moyes’ side.
Leeds vs Everton head-to-head
Everton are unbeaten in their last five Premier League meetings with Leeds, having won three and drawn the other two. In fact, they’ve only lost one of their previous 11 match-ups (six wins and four draws), and that came at Goodison Park, with Leeds’ most recent home league win over Everton coming in December 2001.
Some of Everton’s recent results against the Whites have proven vital in keeping them up, taking four points from them in 2022/23, for example, as they finished two points above the relegation zone and five points ahead of Leeds.
| Date | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|
| 18/02/23 | Everton 1-0 Leeds | Premier League |
| 30/08/22 | Leeds 1-1 Everton | Premier League |
| 12/02/22 | Everton 3-0 Leeds | Premier League |
| 21/08/21 | Leeds 2-2 Everton | Premier League |
| 03/02/21 | Leeds 1-2 Everton | Premier League |