It’s fair to say that plenty of Everton fans are feeling a little concerned about the new season, with less than a month to go until the opening game against Crystal Palace.
After failing to win any of the last seven Premier League games of 2025/26, fans had wanted to see a ruthless operation this summer.
It was not an acceptable way to end the season, and supporters were rightly demanding a response in the transfer market.
Now Hackney is confirmed, who should Everton be bringing in next? 💰
Time to take our foot off the brake pedal in the market…
But so far, Everton have been worryingly quiet.
Hayden Hackney has arrived from Middlesbrough, but that’s it in terms of new arrivals. Tyrique George and Merlin Rohl have joined permanently, but most fans are not going to count those as fresh deals – and Everton would be foolish to think otherwise.
There are a few weeks to go until that Palace game, so it’s now worth looking at what that first starting XI could look like.
How Everton’s first XI of 2026/27 vs Crystal Palace could look
Absolutely love this! A real classy kit for the Toffees… 🤩
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Moyes deployed a back three with wing-backs in the most recent friendly, but it still feels like he’ll start the new season with a back four. That’s the system he’s used in the main since his return and it feels more likely he’ll stick with that as his regular formation.
Jordan Pickford will obviously start, and then we could see a back four of Merlin Rohl, Jake O’Brien, Jarrad Branthwaite and Vitalii Mykolenko.
While Adam Aznou has looked good in pre-season so far, Mykolenko is a trusted player for Moyes.
There is now no reason not to be starting O’Brien and Branthwaite together, and Rohl feels like a genuine option to play as a right-back. As much as everyone wants to see a new face, Moyes loves a square peg in a round hole, and no new right-back is imminent.
The midfield could look fairly different to how it looked in 2025/26.
James Garner’s surgery means he’s a doubt for the opening game, and Idrissa Gana Gueye is now a confirmed exit.
So, that means there will be changes – and Tim Iroegbunam and new signing Hayden Hackney feel a likely pairing for Moyes.
Hackney has not played in the first two friendly matches as he’s been building his fitness after he got an injury towards the end of last season. But he’ll be involved soon, and one would imagine Moyes will want to get him involved from the off.
His on-the-ball quality and passing will be important if Garner is unavailable.
Iroegbunam has a very good chance of starting now, if he is still around, because he is the most defensive-minded midfielder on the books now Gueye has left.
In front of those two, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall will surely operate as a number 10, a role he had such success in last term.
Out wide, Iliman Ndiaye and Tyrique George could both start. George has looked lively in pre-season so far and many will hope he gets a show of faith from the off, especially since he looked good coming off the bench last term.
Ndiaye will be back in pre-season training soon, and would obviously go straight into the side, potentially on the right if George is starting.
Up top, Beto should probably get the nod over Thierno Barry, after finishing last term in better form. It should be on the Frenchman to oust his teammate and get back into the starting XI.
Of course, Everton could yet sign new players, which fans would welcome.
Everton’s fixtures for 2026/27 have been released! What immediately caught your eye about them? 🤩
Ideally, a new right-back will come in. But it was reported earlier this week that Everton are prepared to wait to sign the ideal right-back, which doesn’t fill one with hope about a new face arriving before Palace.
While this would be a slightly underwhelming XI due to a lack of new faces, it is still one that is good enough to get three points against a Palace side under new management and without many new faces themselves.
Predicted Everton XI vs Crystal Palace (4-3-3): Pickford/Rohl, O’Brien, Branthwaite, Mykolenko/Iroegbunam, Hackney, Dewsbury-Hall/Ndiaye, Beto, George.
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