Credit: Imago/Breaking Media/Manh Tung

Chris Smith

Mon 18 August 2025 8:00, UK

Everton begin the new Premier League season with a challenging trip away at Leeds United on Monday evening.

Anton Stach starts: Leeds predicted XI to face Everton	Leeds United backed to agree 'very impressive' last-minute transfer	Sources: Newcastle enter race to sign '£30m' star wanted by Leeds

The Toffees ended the 2024/25 campaign impressively under David Moyes, with only Arsenal (2), Liverpool (3) and Manchester City (3) losing fewer Premier League games (4) since his return.

That helped Everton finish a comfortable 13th, which is their highest placement since the 2020/21 campaign (10th), but nowhere near the standard expected by supporters.

Evertonians will have one eye on next weekend’s first official game at Hill Dickinson Stadium against Brighton, but first, they need to return to Merseyside with a strong opening statement.

Everton have lost their opening fixture in each of the last three seasons and have endured a record of just three victories in 18 attempts in the Premier League era when opening a campaign against a newly-promoted side.

Expect to see him and star attacker Iliman Ndiaye switching positions with regularity.

ClubAppearancesGoalsAssistsAston Villa2133243Man City1571723Notts County3957England3948Jack Grealish’s career stats so far

Thierno Barry will require an adaptation period following his arrival from Villarreal, and with Beto netting seven goals in 19 games under Moyes so far, he will likely get the nod here — despite being linked with Leeds this summer.

Everton’s predicted XI vs Leeds United (Credit: Buildlineup)David Moyes will expect a strong performance from his side (Credit: Imago)

Everton have been languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League for four years now, but there is genuine optimism that things can improve.

The return of Moyes sparked a climb up the table and a turnaround in quality of performance last season, and while there is a lot of work left to do in the summer market, the signings of Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish and Co have the potential to level up this team seriously.

And then, of course, there is that stunning new stadium on the banks of the River Mersey, which has the potential to be one of the finest footballing venues in the country.

Now, it’s time to put all those factors together on the pitch.

Everton have a poor record on the opening day, especially against newly promoted teams.

But then, they’ve lost just one of the last 11 Premier League meetings with Leeds, with the last away defeat coming in December 2001.

New players need time to gel, but there’s quality enough to grind out a draw here.

Prediction: Leeds 1-1 Everton

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