🏏 Sat, 29 Aug 2026 15:00 BST
AFC Bournemouth
vs
Everton
4-2-3-1 vs 4-2-3-1
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- Bournemouth are still chasing their first point of the campaign, sitting 14th after a 2-1 defeat away at Manchester City on the opening weekend. Everton arrive fifth on three points, having beaten Crystal Palace 2-0 at home without conceding. With City already six points clear of the pack from two matches, neither side wants to fall behind this early.
- Both teams set up in a 4-2-3-1, so the double pivots will decide who dictates the rhythm. Bournemouth pair Alex Scott, a 23-year-old club-record signing of around £25m from Bristol City, with 29-year-old Lewis Cook, a Leeds academy graduate at the club since 2016 and a U-20 World Cup winner. Everton counter with James Garner, 25, whose long passing was honed at Manchester United, and Harrison Armstrong, a 19-year-old who has been at Everton since the age of five.
- The Bournemouth wide players offer a study in contrasts. Justin Kluivert, 27, came through Ajax and has since taken in Roma, Leipzig, Nice and Valencia, while Rayan arrived from Vasco da Gama for roughly £24.7m at 20 after 34 games and 14 goals in Brazil. The youngster likes to cut inside on his left foot from the right, which promises a lively duel with Ukraine left-back Vitalii Mykolenko.
- Evanilson leads the line after a club-record move of about £40.2m from Porto, where the Brazilian scored 60 goals in 154 appearances. The two-footed 26-year-old is comfortable with his back to goal, and he runs into a formidable pairing: 195cm left-footer Jarrad Branthwaite and 33-year-old captain James Tarkowski, whose aerial game was forged at Burnley.
- Everton pose the same problem in reverse through Thierno Barry. The 23-year-old Frenchman stands 195cm yet moves quickly, and he scored 11 La Liga goals for Villarreal before joining in the summer of 2025. Bournemouth answer with a young centre-back pairing of 22-year-old Antonio Tavares and James Hill, who made his Fleetwood Town debut at 16, with 35-year-old club captain Adam Smith alongside them at right-back.
- There is a reunion in the away dugout. Reserve goalkeeper Mark Travers spent years at Bournemouth before joining Everton in the summer of 2025, and the 27-year-old Republic of Ireland international now deputises for 32-year-old Jordan Pickford. At the other end is Djordje Petrovic, the 194cm Serbia goalkeeper signed from Chelsea who was named player of the season during his loan spell at Strasbourg.
- Merlin Rohl is a central midfielder by trade, yet he lines up in Everton's back four. The 192cm German, on loan from Freiburg with a conditional obligation to buy, is 24 and built around physicality and ball-winning. Specialist defenders wait on the bench in 197cm Republic of Ireland centre-back Jake O'Brien and the experienced Michael Keane, 33, so the shape could shift as the game develops.
- Both benches carry real weight. Bournemouth hold back USA captain Tyler Adams, whose goal helped Leipzig reach a Champions League semi-final, 20-year-old Scotland winger Ben Gannon-Doak, signed from Liverpool for up to £25m, and French centre-back Bafode Diakite from Lille. Everton keep Tyler Dibling, a 20-year-old bought for a Southampton record fee, and £35m club-record arrival Brennan Johnson in reserve.
- A Middlesbrough thread runs through the fixture. Marcus Tavernier, the 27-year-old left-footer operating behind Evanilson, came through the Boro academy, while Everton substitute Hayden Hackney arrived from the same club for up to £24m after being voted Championship player of the year for 2025-26.