Everton v Crystal Palace: Key stats and talking points

An Everton side who competed for the European places for much of last season begin this campaign against a Crystal Palace team playing their first Premier League game under manager Pierre Sage. BBC Sport examines some of the key themes going into their meeting at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday. Everton begin the new season with perhaps two main ambitions: a challenge for the European places that lasts until the end of the campaign and better form at home. In 2025-26, the Toffees were in contention for Champions League football before failing to win any of their final seven matches . Those fixtures included a last-gasp home defeat by rivals Liverpool and a chastening home loss to Sunderland - disappointing results indicative of wider struggles in their first campaign at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Everton's points-per-game tally of 1.2 at home last season was the lowest by any team to start life in a new stadium in the Premier League in the competition's history. [BBC] The need for a win in Everton's opening fixture of the new campaign is pressing for two additional reasons. First, the Blues' past four opening matches of a Premier League season amount to a total of zero goals and zero points. Secondly, they are at risking of failing to win in eight successive league outings for the first time in either of David Moyes' two reigns with the club. Moyes broke his summer-long silence earlier this week to declare that Everton "need to do more" in the transfer market before it closes at the end of this month. The Toffees have officially signed five players, although midfielder Merlin Rohl and winger Tyrique George were on loan at the club last season, while the departures of Seamus Coleman and Idrissa Gueye have deprived Everton of more than 600 Premier League appearances' worth of experience. One piece of business done so far was a swap with Saturday's visitors, with wingers Brennan Johnson moving to Merseyside and Dwight McNeil heading to south London. It means that both players could make their debuts against their former club in a match between two sides who prefer to play without the ball. Excluding the relegated teams, Everton ranked lowest (43.5%) and the Eagles third lowest (45.5%) for average possession last season, meaning a cagey contest could be expected. Palace will be playing their first Premier League game with Sage at the helm following the departure of Oliver Glasner. While the former Lens boss has big shoes to fill following Palace's triumphs in the FA Cup and Conference League under Glasner over the past two seasons, immediate priorities may involve rectifying a recurrent weakness. Palace conceded 20 set-piece goals (excluding penalties) in the Premier League in 2025-26 – the joint most of any team – while conceding from set-pieces accounted for 39% of all goals that Palace let in last season, the highest ratio of any side. [BBC] Sage is attempting to become just the third Palace manager to win his opening game in the Premier League, but his tenure begins with something of a bogey fixture. The Eagles have won just one of the last 23 Premier League meetings with Everton (D10, L12), a 3-1 home victory in December 2021. They have not won away from home against the Toffees in more than a decade.