Everton v Accrington Stanley: Lineups, match start, and more

Everton's preseason officially begins tonight, with the Toffees traveling to take on Accrington Stanley at Wham Stadium. The hosts will play their football in League Two this season.

The Blues have made a few moves since the start of the summer, securing return deals for Michael Keane and Idrissa Gana Gueye, extending Jarrad Branthwaite's contract, and turning Charly Alcaraz's loan into a permanent move for the next two seasons.

On top of that, they've added striker Thierno Barry from Villarreal and goalkeeper Mark Travers from Bournemouth, neither of whom has been with the club long enough to feature in tonight's matchup, although there is confidence they'll be ready to join the club on their tour of the United States later this month.

Instead, the lineup for this preseason opener is an interesting mixture of players who will most certainly feature in the senior side and kids who will play either for Everton's U21s or be loaned out elsewhere for more match time.

Here is the starting XI for the match:

It's notable that the entire lineup is senior team members, including the aforementioned Keane, Branthwaite, and Alcaraz, along with Nathan Patterson, Dwight McNeil, Vitalii Mykolenko, Youssef Chermiti, James Garner, Tim Iroegbunam, and young Harrison Armstrong, with Harry Tyrer starting in goal, as the lone youth in the starting XI.

The bench, however, is another story, with just Beto and Jake O'Brien standing out alongside a swath of youth players. That includes Tyler Onyango, who is reportedly going to be sold to Stockport FC this summer.

We'll likely see the starting group for a half in this first match, which kicks off at 7:45 PM local time, or 2:45 PM ET in the States. For those who cannot attend the match, you'll need to buy a Match Pass from Everton's website in order to watch, with the club offering a single pass for both this match and Saturday's trip to Blackburn.

Whether that match will feature either of the new boys remains to be seen, but if nothing else, it is good to have Everton back as they continue to build toward the start of the Premier League season in just a few weeks' time.

One fun note for this match, from Christopher Beesley of the Liverpool Echo. Accrington's stadium features a history of the club around the outside, and one of the tidbits is that the club that originally called Accrington home was both a founding member of the football league and Everton's first ever opponent, a match they lost 2-1 away...at Anfield.