Completing our Scout Notes from the weekend’s football (but with still Fulham v Chelsea to come tonight), we look back on Everton 2-0 Crystal Palace.
Mid-price midfielders hauling, a notable absentee and a fortunate clean sheet: we cover all the talking points here.
SARR LATEST: INJURED OR ‘WANTAWAY’?
Palace were without key man Ismaila Sarr (£6.5m), with rumours suggesting that he was trying to force a move to Galatasaray.
The official line is that he had groin discomfort, but let’s see what the last week of the transfer window brings.
“He was injured because he has pain in his groin. We took the decision yesterday, before the session, with the doctor, the player and me, to let him in treatment and in an individual session. He will be back on Monday with us.
“For the moment, we don’t want him to leave. He is under contract with us for three years and he will be on Monday with us. That’s the most important information for me and for you.” – Pierre Sage on Ismaila Sarr
Meanwhile, the Eagles may have a more serious injury on their hands after Chadi Riad (£4.5m) was stretchered off.
“For the moment? I don’t know. He is with the doctor and the physios. We will do the medical test on Monday or maybe tomorrow.” – Pierre Sage on Chadi Riad
EVERTON LUCK THE CLEAN SHEET
It could be a long season for the Eagles, with few notable incomings so far and more key names possibly heading for the exit door.
Still, they started the better of the two teams on Saturday. Everton were fortunate to bank a clean sheet, indeed.
“I have to say, we could have easily been a couple of goals down to Crystal Palace.” – David Moyes
The xG graphic below (the bigger the circle, the better the opportunity) tells a bit of a story. Four Opta-defined big chances for Palace, all spurned. One for Everton, taken by Thierno Barry (£5.5m).
Key for the above image
Blue: blocked/on target. Red: off target. Green: goal.
Eddie Nketiah (£5.5m) was in the thick of things. He twice teed up Jean-Philippe Mateta (£6.5m) for gilt-edged chances, one ballooned and one sent against the post, while he himself was denied when Jordan Pickford (£5.0m) pushed his close-range effort onto the woodwork.
Daniel Munoz (£5.5m) also tested Pickford early on, while even when Palace wilted badly in the second half, substitute Jorgen Strand Larsen (£6.0m) sent a header straight at the Everton ‘keeper from six yards out.
Nketiah, despite playing as a ’10’ and lasting only 55 minutes, tops the forwards’ expected goal involvement (xGI) table in Gameweek 1 so far:
Some positive straws to clutch at for Palace, then, and maybe an asterisk next to this Everton shut-out.
DEWSBURY-HALL + NDIAYE CARRYING ON WHERE THEY LEFT OFF
Everton had more of a clinical edge going forward, and it was two star performers from 2025/26 who were at the centre of the victory.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£6.5m), who averaged 5.0 points per start last season, carried on where he left off, rifling Everton into a 42nd-minute lead. He’d had a shot blocked from a similar position seconds earlier.
Perhaps even more eye-catching was Iliman Ndiaye (£6.0m). He put a superb cross on a plate for Barry to nod in, while he himself had two shooting opportunities from excellent, central positions, both of which were saved. A lack of open-play threat was the stick used to beat Everton’s penalty-taker with last season but this was more like it.
In fact, he had more touches in the penalty box on Saturday (nine) than he’d managed in any Premier League game last season.
Above: Iliman Ndiaye’s heatmap on Saturday, via our new Match Centre page
On top of that, he banked defensive contribution (DefCon) and bonus points! The question is: will he still be an Everton player in a week’s time?
Above: Players banking DefCon points in Everton v Palace, via our new Match Centre page
£5.5M FORWARD BARRY ON A MISSION
Barry pledged “revenge” after a promising pre-season and “to show everyone who I am”.
He delivered on his words on Saturday. Getting the nod over Beto (£5.5m), as expected, he headed in Everton’s second goal against Palace.
A starting, scoring £5.5m forward is always appealing in FPL. But David Moyes still wants more from the striker (perhaps it’s just the Scot’s patented man-management technique), and Everton continue to be linked with Liam Delap (£5.5m).
“No. I think the centre-forwards shared the goals around last year. I’ll certainly want more from him.
“I need his build-up play to be better. I need him to be able to retain the ball for us so that we can play into him more often. I want him to get in the right spaces, which he did today for the cross. I want him to be in a position… he had a couple [of instances] where the ball got played and he didn’t quite deal with his feet. Sometimes he’s out linking up when he doesn’t need to be out linking up. So, I think there’s lots to his game. But I said last year, when you’re a young striker coming in, I think he’s come in with a really, really positive attitude.
“He’s come back with something which has stirred him up a little bit more, as if he’s got something to prove.” – David Moyes on whether the starting striker role is now Thierno Barry’s
Elsewhere, Tyrique George (£5.5m) had more shots (five) than any other player on show – although they amounted to an xG of just 0.26:
GARNER FITNESS UPDATE
James Garner (£6.0m), another high-performing Everton midfield asset in 2025/26, made an earlier-than-expected return from injury as a substitute. He’d missed the entirety of pre-season.
It sounds like he might need another week or two before he’s ready to start, however.
“We wouldn’t have put him on the bench if we had anything else. So, we’ve tried to get, I don’t know, maybe 15 or 20 minutes out of him today, whatever it was. He’s not had any games. He’s not done the pre-season. But we’ve needed it because we don’t have anybody else at the moment.
“So, we needed him around. But is he ready? No.” – David Moyes on James Garner
Hayden Hackney (£5.5m) made his Premier League debut in the engine room alongside Harrison Armstrong (£5.0m), while another cheapo FPL midfielder, Merlin Rohl (£5.0m), featured at right-back.
Armstrong collected DefCon points and an assist.
