Crystal Palace vs Everton: Sage's Premier League Challenge Begins

Crystal Palace step into a new era on Saturday afternoon, and they do it the hard way – away to Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium in Pierre Sage’s first competitive game in charge.

Fresh from the club’s historic Europa Conference League triumph, Palace arrive with a European trophy in the cabinet and a new French coach on the touchline. The mood around Selhurst has shifted. The expectations have, too. But the fixture list has no interest in sentiment.

Everton away. A ground where Palace simply do not win.

Sage’s big stage

Sage inherits a side reshaped by Oliver Glasner and now charged with kicking on rather than clinging on. His reputation comes with substance: a Coupe de France title and a second-place finish in Ligue 1 with Lens last season. He arrives as a coach used to punching above his weight, not merely surviving.

Now comes the Premier League, and a first assignment against an opponent that has repeatedly knocked Palace back. The Eagles have not won their opening league game since 2023/24, and history in the dugout is not on Sage’s side either. Only two of Palace’s previous 16 permanent managers have won their league debut.

He has been clear, though: this team will not go to Merseyside to hide. Ambition, he insists, has to be non-negotiable.

There is evidence to back that up. Palace were one of the strongest away teams in the division last season, taking 24 of their 45 points on the road. They travel well. They compete. They counter.

They will need all of that at a stadium where Everton, for all their flaws, rarely roll over.

Everton’s own scars

Everton enter the new campaign with their own questions. The Hill Dickinson Stadium’s first Premier League season did not deliver the home dominance the club craved. David Moyes had his side flirting with Europe for long stretches, only for a seven-game winless run at the end of the campaign to shred those ambitions.

Another unwanted streak now looms. Everton have lost their opening league match in each of the last four seasons without scoring a single goal. One more defeat would deepen a pattern that grates against Moyes’ identity.

He has never gone eight Premier League games without a win as Everton manager. That record is suddenly on the line.

So both managers walk into this opener with something hanging over them: Sage with Palace’s historic Everton hoodoo, Moyes with the weight of recent collapses.

A brutal head-to-head record

The numbers between these two clubs are stark.

Palace have beaten Everton just once in their last 23 Premier League meetings, drawing 10 and losing 12. Across all competitions, Everton are unbeaten in 11 against the London side. Palace have not won away to Everton since the 2014/15 season.

Every trend points in one direction. Every bit of recent history says the same thing.

On top of that, Sage has a glaring structural problem to fix. Palace conceded 20 goals from set pieces in the league last season – joint-most in the division. Those dead-ball concessions made up 39% of their total goals shipped, the highest proportion of any Premier League team.

Everton will have seen that. Moyes always does his homework from corners and free-kicks. Palace cannot afford to fold in the air again.

Yet Everton carry their own baggage. They failed to win any of their last seven league games last term, and that run has already pushed Moyes to the edge of an unwanted milestone. One more game without victory and he enters new, unwelcome territory.

Something has to give.

Palace team news: new faces, big calls

Sage’s first teamsheet as a Premier League manager is already complicated.

Dean Henderson is a major doubt after twisting his ankle in the final pre-season friendly against Freiburg. If he fails to make it, “serial winner” Walter Benitez is in line for his competitive debut. The Argentine’s arrival was designed to bring experience and security; this would be a sharp early test of both.

On the right flank, Daniel Muñoz is short of minutes after a draining summer at the 2026 World Cup, having played just 18 minutes in pre-season. That opens the door for new signing Oscar Mingueza to start at right wing-back, a role that demands energy, precision, and discipline against an Everton side that will look to overload the wide areas.

Up front, Jean-Philippe Mateta has not featured since the World Cup, which makes Jørgen Strand Larsen the likely spearhead of the attack. His movement and physical presence will be vital if Palace are to turn away solidity into something more threatening.

Ismaila Sarr, last season’s top scorer with 21 goals, is expected to start despite ongoing speculation about his future. His pace remains Palace’s sharpest weapon in transition. If Everton push up, he will be the outlet Sage leans on.

Behind them, Matheus Franca has caught the eye across pre-season, scoring four times and impressing his new coach. For now, though, the Brazilian may have to wait his turn from the bench, ready to tilt the game late on if legs tire and spaces open.

A new manager, a cursed fixture, and two teams desperate to shake off old habits. For Palace, this is more than a curtain-raiser. It’s an early chance to prove that last season’s European breakthrough was a launchpad, not a one-off.