Everton have a tough start to 2026-27 — The Toffees can't afford to be undercooked

(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

When Everton opened up their 2025-26 Premier League campaign at Elland Road, they did so with a squad that was far from ready for the rigours of the season.

They were badly undercooked. The recruitment had not been fast enough over the summer, and injuries to Jarrad Branthwaite and Vitaliy Mykolenko subsequently compounded the issue in the week building up to that trip to Leeds United.

What followed was one of Everton’s poorest performances of the campaign, and given how badly the season ended, that’s saying something.

Leeds were hardly great themselves, and only won due to a contentiously awarded penalty late on, but a better team than the Whites would have put Everton to the sword, and then some.

But at the start of next season, things must be different for Everton.

The fixtures were released on Friday, and Everton open 2026-27 at home against Crystal Palace. A trip to Bournemouth, that traditionally unhappy hunting ground (albeit, Everton did win at the Vitality Stadium back in November), follows. Then it’s a home game against Manchester United, before the Toffees head to Tottenham.

Ipswich Town coming to the Hill Dickinson Stadium rounds off the first five games, prior to the season’s first international break, which will be an extended, three-week buffer, before Everton head to Hull City.

Given the games after that trip to Hull see Everton take on Chelsea, Arsenal and Newcastle United, then it’s fair to say the start looks a tough one.

Now, everybody has to play everybody else twice, and I am definitely not going into panic mode when we are still two months out from the season starting.

But Everton must be ready this time.

Last year, they had a kind start. Away at Leeds, home to Brighton — in the first competitive game at Hill Dickinson Stadium, giving Everton a natural edge — and then away at Wolves.

Aston Villa were the toughest team, visiting in Matchweek 4, but they were out of sorts and fortunate to hang on to a 0-0 draw. The Merseyside derby arrived early, but home fixtures against West Ham and Crystal Palace followed.

What Everton did well after that initial shitshow against Leeds was to manage to pick up points on a consistent basis, and if there were poor displays, they were quickly put right next time out. That’s what ensured there was never any sense of danger last term, and had us all looking up rather than down.

But with such a torrid end to the season, Everton and, in particular, David Moyes, cannot afford another undercooked start. 

Everton are trying to do business, but trying isn’t good enough.

They must ensure players are in the door for pre-season, and that those players are ready to make the impact and ready to be trusted by Moyes. If that’s the case, then he can have no excuse not to use them.

It’s of course not realistic to expect Everton to have every single bit of business done before the season begins, but it is absolutely fair to demand that any major dealings are done and dusted well in time, and that pre-season is treated as an opportunity to get those key players bedded in.

We can’t have any talk of “moves failing in some departments”, because simply put, there is no more excuse for that.

Everton have a tough start, and they must be ready, or it could get very ugly, very quickly.

Read more - Moyes, tempering expectations, and the Everton elephants in the room

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