Crystal Palace's Premier League Season Opener: Sage's Challenge at Everton
Crystal Palace step into the new Premier League season with a fresh face in the dugout, a European trophy in the cabinet, and a familiar problem straight ahead: Everton away.
Pierre Sage’s first competitive game in charge sends Palace to the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday afternoon, a brutal opening test wrapped inside a storyline he cannot control. Palace’s Conference League triumph has raised expectations. Everton’s record against them has not.
Sage’s big stage
Sage replaces Oliver Glasner with a reputation already sharpened. Last season at Lens, the Frenchman lifted the Coupe de France and drove his side to second in Ligue 1. He arrives in England with momentum and a clear message: Palace travel to Merseyside to win, not to feel their way in.
He will know there is no time for a gentle bedding-in period. Palace have not won their opening Premier League fixture since the 2023/24 campaign. Only two of the club’s previous 16 permanent managers have won their first league game. The job tends to start with a stumble.
There is, though, a platform he can trust. Palace were one of the strongest away sides in the division last season, taking 24 of their 45 points on the road. This is a team used to hostile grounds and narrow margins.
They will need that resilience. Everton have been a problem they have simply not solved.
Everton’s own questions
The Hill Dickinson Stadium did not become the fortress Everton hoped for in its first full Premier League season. A promising push for Europe fell apart in the run-in as a seven-game winless streak to close the campaign shredded their hopes.
David Moyes has his own unwanted streak to break. Everton have lost their opening league game in each of the last four seasons and have not scored in any of them. One more defeat on the opening weekend would deepen the sense of drift around a club that spent much of last year threatening to do far more.
Even so, the head-to-head numbers are brutal reading for Palace. The Eagles have won just one of their last 23 Premier League meetings with Everton, drawing 10 and losing 12. Across all competitions, Everton are 11 games unbeaten in this fixture. Palace have not won away at Everton since the 2014/15 season.
History leans one way. The table, at least for now, is blank.
Set-pieces and soft spots
Sage does not need long with the data to see the most obvious flaw he has inherited. Palace conceded 20 set-piece goals in the Premier League last season, the joint-highest total in the division. Those goals made up 39% of all they let in, the highest proportion of any team.
Against a Moyes side, that statistic is a red flag. Corners, free-kicks, second balls in the box – Palace cannot afford to look anything like the team they were last year in those moments. If Sage wants to stamp his authority quickly, tightening that chaos is the place to start.
Everton are hardly in form themselves. They failed to win any of their final seven league matches last season and have never gone eight Premier League games without a victory under Moyes. One of those runs will crack: Palace’s Everton curse, or Everton’s extended slump.
Palace team news: new faces, tight calls
The first big selection call could come in goal. Dean Henderson is a doubt after twisting his ankle in the final pre-season friendly against Freiburg. If he does not make it, “serial winner” Walter Benitez is ready for his competitive Palace debut, a significant early show of trust in the summer arrival.
On the right, Daniel Muñoz may have to wait. After featuring for Colombia at the 2026 World Cup, he has played just 18 minutes in pre-season. That opens the door for new signing Oscar Mingueza to start at right wing-back, an immediate opportunity to stake his claim in a new-look system.
Up front, there is another World Cup hangover. Jean-Philippe Mateta has not played since the tournament, leaving Jørgen Strand Larsen as the likely option to lead the line. Behind him, there is star power and speculation.
Ismaila Sarr, Palace’s top scorer last season with 21 goals, is expected to start despite ongoing uncertainty over his future. His pace and finishing remain central to everything Palace want to do in transition, regardless of what the transfer window might bring.
Matheus França has caught Sage’s eye in pre-season, scoring four times and pushing hard for a bigger role. For now, the Brazilian may have to settle for a place on the bench, waiting for the kind of open, frantic game that suits his sharp movement and direct running.
Sage’s first Premier League XI is likely to line up in a 3-4-2-1. The system is familiar. The ideas, the edge, the personality – those are what Palace hope will look very different as a new season, and a new era, begins on Merseyside.
