Leeds vs Everton Preview – Premier League 2025-26 | Form, Injury News, Lineups & Prediction | OneFootball

By Solomon Beke

Leeds vs Everton Preview – The Premier League returns to Elland Road for the first time since the 22/23 season as Daniel Farke’s Aston Villa take on David Moyes’s Everton on the opening weekend of the 2025-26 season. Leeds will be chomping at the bits to get off to a good start in their renewed quest for sustained top flight football, while Everton arrive looking to build on rather turbulent season plagued with hierarchy reshuffles, a manager change and the announcement of a brand new stadium which saw an emotional albeit necessary farewell to one of the premier leagues most iconic stadiums in Goodison Park.

Both managers are dealing with absentees and fitness concerns, making squad selection pivotal. Vitaly Mykolenko went off in the 11th minute of Everton’s loss to AS Roma and was replaced by summer signing Adam Aznou who just joined from Bayern and is in line for a first premier league start at Elland Road. Other absentees for the toffees include, while Leeds will be without summer signing Jaka Bijol who is serving a one game suspension for his red card in the last game of the Serie A season for Udinese and Jayden Bogle who has only played one of Leeds’s pre-season games and is a doubt for Monday night’s clash.

Current Form

Aston Villa enjoyed a very underwhelming pre-season, falling to 4 losses and managing 2 draws in 6 games. After an opening stalemate to Accrington, they lost to Blackburn 1-0, fell to Bournemouth 3-0, West Ham 2-1 and another draw to Manchester United 2-2 then wrapped up their preparations with a 1-0 loss to Roma. The performances of new forward Thierno Barry have given David Moyes reason for optimism.

Leeds endured a far more serene build-up. Across three friendlies, they recorded 3 draws in all their games. A 0-0 draw to Manchester United, a 1-1 draw to Villarreal and rounding off their preparations with another 1-1 draw to AC Milan.

Head-to-Head Record

Everton have enjoyed recent dominance in this fixture, winning 3 of their last 5 meetings and drawing 2 of them.

Last five meetings in all competitions:

Feb 2023 – Everton 1-0 Leeds (Premier League)

Aug 2022 – Leeds 1-1 Everton (Premier League)

Feb 2022 – Everton 3-0 Leeds (Premier League)

Aug 2021 – Leeds 2-2 Everton (Premier League)

Feb 2021 – Leeds 1-2 Everton (Premier League)

Injury News & Suspensions

Everton

Vitaliy Mykolenko – Out (Unspecified)

Nathan Patterson – Doubtful (knock)

Harrison Armstrong – Doubtful(Unspecified)

Leeds

Jaka Bijol – Suspended (Red Card, final day of last season)

Lucas Perri – Doubtful (Fitness)

Jayden Bogle – Doubtful (Lack of match fitness)

Sebastian Bornauw – Doubtful (Unspecified)

Manager Quotes

David Moyes had earlier reiterated his desire for new signings to bolster his squad and that has partly been addressed with the additions of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Jack Grealish as the manager stressed his desire to get Everton into European places. Daniel Farke has stressed the need for more work amidst his sides multiple stalemates over the course of the season.

Predicted Lineups

Everton (4-2-3-1):

Pickford; Aznou, Branthwaite, Tarkowski, O’Brien; Gueye, Garner; Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall, Alcaraz; Barry

Leeds (4-2-3-1):

Perri; Schmidt, Struijk, Rodon, Gudmundsson; Ampadu, Stach; James, Tanaka, Gnonto; Piroe

Tactical Preview & Key Battles

Leeds will likely press high and look to regain the ball high and attack from loose ball situations as Everton can be quite difficult to breakdown when they settle into their low/mid-block. James and Gnonto continuous running would also be a source for worry for Everton’s backline as the fullbacks will have to be on their toes to keep them at bay.

Everton will seek to use the physicality of Barry against the Leeds CBs as he’ll look to hold up play and bring the likes of Dewsbury-Hall and Alcaraz into play. Ndiaye will also be a source of worry for Leeds as he is usually a thorn in the side of opposition defenders who come up against the Everton Winger.

Key Battles

1.Barry vs Struijk/Rodon – Everton’s striker against Leeds physical central pairing.

2.Ndiaye vs Schmidt – Pace and skill against a competent defender.

3.Gueye vs Ampadu – Battle for midfield control and defensive cover.

Predicted Scoreline

Everton 2-1 Leeds

Everton’s experience and squad depth might give them the upper hand in a tough battle at Elland Road.

Where to watch