Leeds close in on Okafor
Simon Jones, Daily Mail Sport:
Leeds are close to agreement on a deal for AC Milan winger Noah Okafor. The Switzerland international is open to the move and has discussed a potential four-year deal.
Leeds are understood to be offering around £17.5million for the 25-year-old who has drawn attention from the likes of Arsenal and Everton.
Farke: ‘We know our potential’
Daniel Farke, Leeds United manager, on Sky Sports:
I really liked my time at Norwich. I took them over under big financial pressure. Once I left, they were playing in the Premier League with an exciting young team and I had a good time with it.
A club that can label themselves an established Premier League side. We all know the potential of this club. They belong to the Premier League. We had something to build on and we have improved a lot. We have to do some business in the offence, but with Dominic Calvert-Lewin we have a really good signing.
We are not prepared for a long season – 38 games when the games are coming thick and fast. We are prepared to be competitive in the next couple of games.
Excited to be back, Daniel?
This is the look of a man who is excited to be leading a team into a Premier League game again.
Daniel Farke has had two cracks before with Norwich and failed in both.
But could it be third time lucky?
This is by far the strongest squad Farke has ever had going into a Premier League season. These players can certainly execute Farke’s style of play better than his old Norwich squads.
I have a feeling that the German can keep them up.
Moyes: ‘The players have given me confidence’
David Moyes, Everton manager, on Sky Sports:
They have given me great confidence in the way they played at the end of last season. We start again, that’s all gone now, we have to do it again. The players have done great work. Especially away from home, we picked up some great wins.
On Beto:
If you look at Beto’s goals last season, he was incredible when I arrived. I felt in pre-season we didn’t score any goals, and I was critical of him as I wanted him to get off to a good start. Beto did well for us last season and there’s no reason to change him.
Four in a row for Toffees?
No, that’s not four defeats in a row…
As alluded to earlier, times have changed at Everton since David Moyes returned to the club earlier this year.
They are now actually good at football. I know, crazy.
Everton won their final three league games of 2024-25. They last won four in a row in December 2023 under Sean Dyche, while they last did so under David Moyes in March 2008.
17 years is a long time, isn’t it? So I reckon it’s about time they do it under Moyes again.
Whether they will… I guess we will have to wait and see.
Harrison in Leeds squad
Well, this is an interesting story arc.
If you have followed Jack Harrison’s journey, you will know that he left Leeds on a two-year loan to Everton while they were in the Championship, only to return to Elland Road this summer.
It’s fair to say, the Leeds fans are not too fond of him because of that.
Harrison was booed by Leeds’ fans during a pre-season match with AC Milan in Dublin a couple of weeks ago, and they haven’t been too kind to him on social media either.
Despite that, Daniel Farke has opted to plonk him on the bench tonight as they face the side he originally left them for.
Pretty awks…
‘It will be emotional because of Leeds fans’
I think it’s going to be a really emotional game because I think that there is a level of expectation with Leeds fans, they expect to win games at Elland Road, so that will create an electric atmosphere and it’s whether or not the players can adapt to that. The tempo has to be high!
I think that Everton are going to be a better team that they have been for the last few years and I think they’re got stability now under David Moyes. But I think that it is an opportunity for Leeds to get off to a flying start and take the game to Everton.
I think that there will be goals – I’m going to for a 2-1 Leeds win. I think that they will score as they’ve got players that can create problems for Everton, but I also think that Everton have players and a way of playing that is going to give Leeds problems at times. But I think overall we are going to be able to sneak a win. These are the kind of games that when you play for Leeds, you dare not lose!
Bijol’s parking mishap
Funny to see new signing Jaka Bijol have to struggle out of the passenger side of his car after parking too close to the car next to him. Bijol is suspended for tonight after picking up a red card during the final game of last season.
Beto gets nod over Barry
I can’t lie, I’m a little shocked to see Beto’s name in Everton’s starting line-up tonight.
It was only two weeks ago when David Moyes said that he was ‘disappointed’ in the striker and that he ‘needed a bit more’ from him.
With new signing Thierry Barry in the building, most expected him to lead the line after comments like that.
But nope, the Scot has stuck with Beto.
The big man did have a major transformation for the better under Moyes’ stewardship last season; he scored four goals in his first three games under Moyes when he came in.
But can he repay the faith shown in him by bringing that form to the table tonight?
I imagine that’s what Moyes is hoping for.
Expect goals
Leeds United are always box office.
It feels like no matter who is at the helm at Elland Road, they always build a team that is capable of banging in loads of goals.
If you watched Daniel Frake’s side romp to 100 Championship points last season, then you’ll know his Leeds team is no different.
Leeds’ last eight opening league games have produced a total of 39 goals (almost 5 per game), with the Whites scoring 20 and conceding 19.
Let’s hope that we get some more tonight, eh?
‘Can Grealish deliver’
Last off the Everton bus was Jack Grealish. Jamie Redknapp told me on Friday that he reckons Grealish will be a contender for Player of the Season. I’m so excited to see how he goes for Everton. We all know what he’s capable of but can he deliver for David Moyes?
Moyes: ‘I want Grealish to be creative’
David Moyes, Everton manager, on the signing of Jack Grealish:
I think Jack can play in several positions, as a midfielder [as well as a winger]. My aim is to get Jack in a creative postion where he can score and assist goals. It is a big challenge for Jack and I am looking forward to seeing how he responds to it.
Everton’s new poster boy
It’s been a long time since Everton made a marquee signing.
The last one that I can remember is when they brought in James Rodriguez in 2020; that was a biggie that shook the Premier League.
Well, they have made a move of that magnitude this summer.
By bringing in Jack Grealish on loan, they may have made the signing of the summer.
Many of you may laugh at that statement, but I think people forget that he was once a £100m player who ripped up the division at Aston Villa, and he actually had a fairly strong first two seasons at City.
Things have not gone too well for him lately, but he now has a fresh start at a team where he will be the focal point.
I am so excited to see him when, or if, he comes on tonight.
Everton Team News – Grealish on BENCH
Everton fans will have to wait a little bit longer to see their new star boy.
Jack Grealish has been named on the bench by David Moyes after sealing a loan move to the club last week.
However, new boy Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall does make his Premier League debut for the club.
Beto starts despite the drama in midweek…
Leeds United Team News – NO DCL
Well, this is a bit of an anti-climax.
I thought that Dominic Calvert-Lewin may be in with a sniff of the bench, but obviously his lack of pre-season means that he isn’t ready.
Lucas Perri and Gabriel Gudmundsson do make their competitive debuts, though.
Joel Piroe starts up top.
DCL to face former flame
I wonder what is going through Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s head right now?
Everton was all the striker knew for nine years. He’s a Yorkshire lad, but Merseyside became his home.
But now he is back in his true homeland after signing for the Whites on a free last week, and now he faces the prospect of facing his former team in his very first match.
Now, he hasn’t had a pre-season, so I highly doubt he will start for Leeds tonight. But he get some minutes off the bench?
We will find out very soon.
The new-look Toffees
Everything’s different now at Everton.
Well, it certainly feels that way. A new stadium, six new faces, and a feel-good factor heading into the new season for what feels like the first time in forever.
David Moyes has been a man on a mission this summer; he’s been acting like Tom Cruise in a Mission Impossible film. No, he’s not shooting bad guys and riding motorcycles, but rather fighting to build the team he wants in double quick time.
And well, he’s succeeded.
With the likes of Jack Grealish and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall now under his watch, it feels like he has a team that can challenge for a top-half finish for the first time in years.
It feels like exciting times for Everton, and they will want to get off to the perfect start in West Yorkshire.
We will have to wait and see.
Farke: ‘I want to keep this club in the promised land’
By Harry Bamforth
Daniel Farke, Leeds United manager, speaking on Friday:
We know how difficult it will be. Everton are a good side and had a really good second half of last season. But our mindset is to win games and be the better side.
I’ve always been in the mindset not to do the selfish things in my career, but to do things when I’m convinced ‘I need to do this’. I want to leave this club in a better place than when I arrived.
I’m just focused on taking the next step for Leeds United. I want to keep this club in the promised land. It’s a club which belongs in the Premier League. The fanbase is second to none.
Marching back to the PL
Leeds United in the Premier League just feels right, doesn’t it?
The last time they returned to the promised land, they were box office under Marcelo Bielsa. I mean, their first game of the 2020-21 campaign was a seven-goal thriller at Anfield.
That last entertaining stint lasted three seasons before a two-year blip in the Championship. But now they are back, and Daniel Farke’s side mean business.
The excitement around Elland Road is palpable ahead of the return; it must have been such a long weekend for those in Yorkshire who were waiting for this moment.
They’ve done some good summer business, bringing in the likes of Sean Longstaff and of course, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and they look ready to compete.
The long road to survival starts here…
Weekend so far…
Unless you’re a football fan who has been living under a rock – a huge one – then I imagine you will know the results from this weekend.
But still, I think it’s only fair that I remind everyone anyway…
FRIDAY
- Liverpool 4-2 Bournemouth
SATURDAY
- Aston Villa 0-0 Newcastle
- Tottenham 3-0 Burnley
- Sunderland 3-0 West Ham
- Brighton 1-1 Fulham
- Wolves 0-4 Manchester City
SUNDAY
- Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
- Nottingham Forest 3-1 Brentford
- Manchester 0-1 Arsenal
Last not least
By Harry Bamforth
What a weekend it’s been, eh?
One of the main reasons I love the Premier League returning is because we get four days of back-to-back footie, from Friday through Monday. It’s pure bliss.
We’ve had three of those days pass us now, and well, it’s fair to say it’s been a mixed bag. We started with a bang at Anfield, but then it was a bit up and down in terms of entertainment after that, to be honest.
Nevertheless, the top flight has still been as frantic as ever.
Now, last but not least, we finish the opening weekend at Elland Road as Leeds United mark their return to the Premier League against Everton.
If I know one thing about tonight, it’s that the atmosphere is going to be electric. When the Leeds players emerge from that tunnel, the noise may be loud enough to register on the Richter scale. OK, that’s dramatic, but it’s going to be hella loud.
I, for one, can not wait for it to get started… let’s hope we end this weekend like we started it, with a bang!
Right then, shall we get cracking?
