The summer is nearly over, and the Premier League season is off and running. Everton will close out the first weekend of matches with a trip to Elland Road to take on Leeds United.
Everton are looking to improve upon a 13th-place finish last season and avoid another year entrenched in a relegation battle. With that in mind, it will be important for David Moyes to set his team up well to get the Toffees off to a good start on Monday night.
There are some new players who have joined this summer, and likely more to come before the window opens, so there are some legitimate questions about who will start for Everton and how the shape will come about.
With that in mind, let's take a guess on who'll be in the first starting XI for Everton for 2025/26.
Everton lineup vs Leeds United (4-3-2-1)
Goalkeeper & Defender
Jordan Pickford (GK): Sure, Everton has three veteran options at the position for the first time in several years, but this is Jordan Pickford's spot unless something dire happens (or it's an early-round cup match).
Vitalii Mykolenko (LB): After the Roma preseason match, it really felt like there was no way the Ukrainian international would be ready for this game. But Moyes intimated in his pre-match presser that the left back was good to go.
James Tarkowski (CB): After a rough end to the season due to injury, the likely captain of the side for Monday looks to be back after excellent minutes over the last few preseason matches.
Michael Keane (CB): Unfortunately, Jarrad Branthwaite will miss yet another start of a season due to injury. That, plus the club's inability to add a starting right back, means that Keane slides into the lineup, despite technically standing as the fourth-choice centerback.
Jake O'Brien (RB): To be fair, there's a case to be made that the strapping Irishman looks more comfortable at right back, albeit one that's built on the fact that he has played a lot more minutes there over the last few months. He's limited, but he does the job defensively.
Midfielders
Idrissa Gana Gueye (CDM): In an ideal world, Everton find another defensive minded midfielder to pair with Gana, freeing up the Senegal international to do more damage on both sides of the ball. For now, he'll likely be asked to pursue the ball a lot.
James Garner (CM): We saw the best of James Garner in the final match of the Premier League Summer Series against Manchester United in Atlanta. He may be asked to be more of a box-to-box player with the addition of Dewsbury-Hall.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (CAM): It'll be interesting to see how the new signing's role will work out as the season goes along, but for now, I'd expect him to be a bit more advanced, with some flexibility and fluidity between him and the other attackers.
Forwards
Jack Grealish (LW): There's an outside chance that Grealish starts his Everton career off the bench, but he's been with the club long enough to get a run in the starting lineup to begin the year. Again, I wouldn't expect him to be glued to the left.
Iliman Ndiaye (RW): Is this the Senegal international's best position? Maybe not, but he is capable of playing the spot and, as noted, he'll have the fluidity to switch with Grealish and KDH as the opportunities arise.
Beto (CF): Down the road, we can start talking about how Thierno Barry deserves a start, but for now, the French international is still young and relatively raw. Beto will be the guy for the time being and will be charged with taking advantage of all of Everton's new creativity.