Everton vs Crystal Palace: Moyes Returns and Sage Debuts
The Premier League curtain lifts at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday, and it does so with a storyline that almost writes itself. David Moyes is back in the Everton dugout, Crystal Palace arrive with a bold new coach in Pierre Sage, and both clubs know this opener will echo far beyond one afternoon in August.
Kick-off is set for 10:00 a.m. local time on August 22, 2026, with the United States audience able to tune in via UNIVERSO, USA Network, Fubo, DirecTV Stream and Sling TV.
Moyes 2.0 at Everton
For Moyes, this is more than a first game of a new season. It is a reset, a return, and a chance to stamp authority on a club he knows inside out.
He starts with what looks like a solid, pragmatic XI. Jordan Pickford anchors the side in goal, with a back four of Jarrad Branthwaite, James Tarkowski, Vitaliy Mykolenko and Jake O'Brien. It is a defensive line built for aerial duels and last-ditch blocks, the kind of platform Moyes has always trusted.
In midfield, Harrison Armstrong, Merlin Roehl and Hayden Hackney are expected to bring legs and balance, while Iliman Ndiaye and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall operate around striker Thierno Barry. It is not a star-studded cast, but it is a coherent one.
Everton do have absentees. James Garner, Tim Iroegbunam and Christian Noergaard are all ruled out through injury, though there are no suspensions to complicate matters.
Off the pitch, the story simmers. The club remain in talks over a potential move for Jack Grealish, with chief executive Angus Kinnear confirming contact with Manchester City. Whether that transfer actually lands before the window closes is another question, but the noise around it underlines Everton’s intent to move beyond mere survival and into something more ambitious.
Sage steps into the spotlight
On the opposite bench, Pierre Sage walks into his first Premier League match as Crystal Palace head coach with a clear idea of what he wants and, crucially, a squad that has been shaped to his liking.
Walter Benitez starts in goal, protected by a back line of Jaydee Canvot, Chadi Riad, Chris Richards and Tyrick Mitchell. It is a group with mobility and aggression, and it will need both against a home side desperate to set the tone.
Across midfield and the wide areas, Sage leans on Ismaila Sarr, Dwight McNeil, Daichi Kamada, Adam Wharton and Oscar Mingueza, with Joergen Strand Larsen leading the line. There is creativity, pace and technical quality there, but also responsibility: this is the engine room of Sage’s new identity.
Dean Henderson is the only player listed as injured for Palace, leaving the visitors otherwise at full strength and with no suspensions to navigate.
Transfer stance and squad building
If there was any doubt about Palace’s direction under Sage, the transfer window has cleared it up.
Manchester City came calling for Adam Wharton. Palace slammed the door. The message was blunt: the England international is not for sale this summer. For a club often seen as a seller, that refusal is a statement.
At the back, Palace are closing in on a season-long loan for Chelsea centre-back Axel Disasi, a move designed to add depth and steel to a defence that will be tested from the first whistle in Liverpool.
Everton, by contrast, have focused on stability as much as recruitment. Their pursuit of Grealish hints at a desire to add a game-breaker in the final third, but for now Moyes works with a group that has had time to settle through pre-season, even if the results have been uneven.
Pre-season patterns
Form in July and early August rarely tells the full story, but it does offer clues.
Everton finished pre-season with a 2-2-1 record. A 1-1 draw with Lille on August 15 closed their preparations, while a 3-1 win over Newcastle stood out as their most convincing display. They also edged Hamburger SV 2-1 away, but defeats to VfB Stuttgart (3-1) and Stoke City (1-0) exposed defensive lapses, with six goals conceded across those two losses alone.
Palace’s warm-up games painted a similarly mixed picture. They went 2-1-2, ending with a bruising 3-0 defeat to Freiburg on August 15. Before that, wins over Fulham (2-1) and Al-Ula FC (3-1) hinted at attacking promise, yet a 3-0 loss to Lens and a 0-0 draw with Famalicao showed a side still searching for rhythm. Six goals scored, seven conceded: plenty to refine, plenty to build on.
Recent history and the numbers
These two know each other well, and recent meetings have tilted in Everton’s favour.
The last clash, at Selhurst Park on May 10, 2026, finished 2-2. Over the previous five Premier League encounters, Everton have taken three wins, with Palace yet to register a victory in that run and two matches ending level. The goal tally across those five reads nine for Everton, seven for Palace.
At Hill Dickinson Stadium, the pattern is even clearer. Everton have won both of the last two league fixtures there by the same scoreline: 2-1 in October 2025 and 2-1 in September 2024. Palace have competed, but they have not cracked the code.
The league table offers one more twist. Palace arrive in Liverpool sitting eighth, Everton just behind in ninth. On paper, it is a mid-table pairing. On the ground, it feels like a fork in the road for both.
How to watch in the United States
For viewers in the U.S., Everton vs Crystal Palace will be broadcast live on UNIVERSO and USA Network, with streaming options on Fubo, DirecTV Stream and Sling TV.
For those travelling or living abroad, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) can be used to access usual domestic services when geo-restrictions block coverage. By connecting through a server in a country where the match is being shown, fans can log in to their regular broadcaster’s site or app and watch as normal on phone, laptop or big screen.
Opening-day edge
So what does it all add up to?
Moyes walks into a stadium that remembers his first era and expects a new one. Sage steps into the Premier League spotlight with a squad he has already started to reshape and a club that has just stared down Manchester City.
Everton bring a strong home record against Palace and a settled core. Palace bring a coach with fresh ideas, a protected midfield jewel in Wharton and a looming reinforcement in Disasi.
One game will not define their seasons. But on a day when the table still lies and the possibilities still feel endless, who lands the first blow might just set the tone for everything that follows.
