The First Premier League Fixture at the Hill Dickinson Stadium!

The first Premier League fixture at the brand new Hill Dickinson Stadium is upon us as Everton host Brighton & Hove Albion at 2pm on Sunday!

The Toffees’ start to the season was disappointing. A lacklustre performance against Leeds United, with David Moyes’ side only managing 1 shot on target throughout the whole 90 minutes, as well as a late controversial penalty that Lukas Nmecha converted, gave Leeds the three points on their first Premier League game since 2023. In his post-match interview with the media, Moyes stated, as he repeatedly has throughout pre-season, that there is a lack of squad depth available due to a slow summer transfer window.

However, Everton have finally come to an agreement with Southampton, after weeks of negotiation, for teenage winger Tyler Dibling. After the Blues' three rejected bids, the Saints came back with a new price, which was unsurprisingly a lot higher than Everton’s valuation of the player, meaning the Toffees backed out of negotiations. The question of whether the Blues really backed out of negotiations has been answered, and that is no, as the deal is set to be sealed. Southampton manager Will Still has admitted that Dibling is due a medical at Everton next week to finalise the deal worth up to £45m. Some have argued that the price tag is too high, with the player only scoring 2 goals last season in the Premier League, but we will have to wait and see if the money is worth it!

Brighton’s opening match for the 25/26 campaign ended in a 1-1 draw at the Amex Stadium against Fulham. A 55th-minute penalty converted by Matt O’Riley following Sander Berge’s foul on Georginio Rutter as the forward was running through on goal gave the Albions the lead during the start of the second half. However, Brighton were the victims of an extremely late goal, as Fulham equalised in the 97th minute of the game. Following a corner that was sent into the back post, the ball landed into the path of Rodrigo Muniz following a flick on from Lewis Dunk, who, in an attempt to head the ball away from danger, gave it to Muniz, who fired it into the bottom corner of the net past Verbruggen, who could simply do nothing about it.

In his pre-match press conference, Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler confirmed that Tom Watson, Adam Webster and Solly March are doubtful, but both Carlos Baleba, who was linked with a move to Manchester United, and Jack Hinshelwood are to be eased back into the squad over the next couple of weeks following both individuals' disturbed pre-seasons due to injury. On the other hand, David Moyes has confirmed that Everton will be without Jarrad Branthwaite, Vitalii Mykolenko and Nathan Patterson, but Adam Aznou, who recently signed this summer for the Toffees from German giants Bayern Munich, is back in training and will face a late fitness check ahead of the Premier League opener at Bramley Moore Dock.

It is an exciting time for the Toffees, as the move into the new stadium is now for real! After a few test events, increasing the capacity permitted each time, selling out against AS Roma in a pre-season friendly a couple of weeks ago was the most recent one. There is excitement about the new stadium and the opportunities for the future of the club, but at the same time there is uncertainty about the stability of the team that is out there on the pitch, and that can only be sorted by providing solid performances and gaining points throughout the season, and there is a huge chance to do that against Brighton.

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Thank you for reading my pre-match article!