Everton vs Sporting Lisbon LIVE: Toffees to complete pre-season campaign at home – kick-off time, team news and how to follow
Everton will play their final game of pre-season this weekend as they welcome Sporting Lisbon to Goodison Park. The Toffees have enjoyed a solid preparation for the new Premier League campaign, winning three of their four friendlies so far while only conceding one goal. Sean Dyche’s side will be hoping to head into the 2023/24 season on a high note as they aim to avoid yet another relegation battle. They face their toughest opponent in Portuguese side Sporting on Merseyside and the clash will be viewed as a chance for Dyche to see exactly where his team are.
Everton vs Sporting Lisbon: How to follow
This friendly will take place on Saturday, August 5. Kick-off at Goodison Park is scheduled for 3pm. All of Everton’s pre-season games have been streamed live on Everton TV. However, this match will not be available to watch in the UK due to broadcasting rules.
Everton vs Sporting Lisbon: Team news
Everton signings Arnaut Danjuma and Ashley Young look set to play a big part for their new club this campaign. Both players featured in their win over Stoke last time out with Danjuma looking likely to play as a striker under Dyche. This line-up is likely to be the one that the Toffees start the new season with and the players will be aiming to prove themselves worthy of a starting spot. As for Sporting Lisbon, former Coventry striker Viktor Gyokeres is expected to start up front. He will likely be flanked by Pedro Goncalves and Paulinho who both scored in a win over Villarreal in their most recent friendly.
Everton vs Sporting Lisbon: What has been said?
Everton midfielder James Garner is ready and raring to get the new Premier League season underway. He told the club’s website: “Hopefully it is going to be a much better season as a team, and for myself. If I have a good season, then I am going to help the team and we need to do better than last season. From what I have seen this week, we look sharp and everyone is ready. I can’t wait. I can’t wait for next week now back at Goodison. Hopefully, there will be a good turnout there, and we get a result. Ultimately, we’re looking forward to the first game of the season, we need to prepare right and make sure we are ready to go.”
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Tonight (Thursday, August 8) sees Everton conclude their busy pre-season campaign, as Marco Silva’s side host Sporting Lisbon in a friendly at Goodison Park.
The Toffees will be looking to round off their summer work with a positive performance against the Portuguese giants, following a fruitless tour of Switzerland and Germany which saw losses to AS Monaco and FC Sion.
Indeed, only a win against Lille during this spell on international soil provided a glimmer of hope for Silva, while the recent Premier League Asia Trophy failed to be the desired tonic after hard-fought draws with both Crystal Palace and Wolves, followed by a penalty-shoot out defeat to the former.
A busy summer of transfer activity has seen a considerable number of new faces swiftly integrated into the squad, and Evertonians will be keen to witness how the new-look team have stuck together during this time, with competition for places in the starting eleven expected to be fierce.
Tonight’s kick-off is at 7:45pm (GMT), with both team news and a suggested line-up released this afternoon.
Live coverage will not be available during the game due to Broadcasting restrictions, although Everton supporters can keep up with all the action from Goodison by following the club’s official Twitter account, or the hashtag #EFCLive. Post-match analysis is also expected from the Toffees’ website.
Onwards and upwards, as Everton prepare for their daunting opening to the Season following this friendly, which sees them take on Watford at Vicarage Road on August 10th.