Who does Opta's Supercomputer predict to finish mid-table?published at 11:59 BST 6 August
11:59 BST 6 August
Opta's Supercomputer has once again predicted the upcoming 2025-26 Premier League season by using a model to simulate every match 10,000 times.
Image source, Opta
Manchester United only reach the Champions League in 6.7% of simulations, while Thomas Frank's new-look Tottenham only do so in 5.7%. These numbers will obviously largely be based on their underperformance last time around.
Both are therefore predicted a mid-table finish.
However, United are also relegated in 11.1% of simulations, meaning currently Opta's computer suggests they are more likely to go down than make the top four.
Both Everton and Fulham are both predicted to have slightly disappointing seasons with lower mid-table finishes simulated most often by the Supercomputer.
The latter had a productive 2024-25 campaign so may not be happy by 14.8% of simulations having them as relegated.
For the Blues' first season at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, David Moyes' side are relegation in 12.5% of the computer's simulations.
'A really good midfielder who is Premier League-ready'published at 08:43 BST 6 August
08:43 BST 6 August
Image source, Getty Images
BBC Radio Leicester's Foxes commentator Owynn Palmer-Atkin says Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall will be a smart addition to Everton this summer.
On Monday, it emerged Everton had agreed a £28m deal to sign the 26-year-old from Chelsea.
Having watched the 26-year-old come through the ranks to play a key role for Leicester City in their title-winning Championship campaign two seasons ago, Palmer-Atkin told BBC Radio Merseyside the midfielder will bring consistency and leadership to David Moyes' side.
"I think Everton are getting a really good midfielder," he said. "Dewsbury-Hall was a talismanic figure in that Leicester side. The season they were able to win the Championship almost a personal vendetta campaign.
"He is unique with his work rate and the way he manoeuvres around the pitch. He is quite old school but has got the technical ability to match as well.
I think Everton are getting a really good player who, perhaps most importantly, is Premier League-ready."
'We entered our wedding reception to Z Cars' - fan storiespublished at 15:59 BST 5 August
15:59 BST 5 August
We know the relationship between a football fan and their club is a special one so, as we gear up for the new season, we asked you to share why you fell in love with Everton and some of your favourite moments supporting them.
Here are some of your submissions:
Image caption,
Terry: A great memory of mine from 40 years ago when I lived in Liverpool was the European Cup Winners' Cup final in Rotterdam. Having already seen off Bayern Munich in the semi-final, Howard Kendall's boys were then the best team in England and Europe. We had already secured the league title, but unfortunately could only finish as FA Cup runners-up. All told, what a great season! This is a photo of me outside the football stadium in Feyenoord.
Eliza: I was born Blue because my parents met on an Everton fanpage. I had an account made for me the very day I was born. While it has been disappointing to see how the club has declined, I could never stray from my roots.
Image caption,
Nikky: Simon and I were brought up as Evertonians. His dad was a Blue and my brother was a Red so I chose Everton. Our first date was 12 August 1995, the eve of our Charity Shield win. We joked that we would marry when Everton next won something, but after 10 years, Simon finally gave in. We entered our wedding reception to Z Cars. We still go when we visit friends and family and we have brought up our son as a Blue too. We were at Goodison for the last game. Myself, Simon, Paul and our son Jamie will be Blue forever.
Football provides 'connections' in 'increasingly lonely' worldpublished at 11:49 BST 5 August
11:49 BST 5 August
Nicola Pearson BBC Sport journalist
Image source, Getty Images
'Why did you fall in love with your club?'
This week, we have asked hundreds of football fans across the world that very question and got hundreds of different answers.
Yes, the themes might be similar - born near a ground; family supported the team; watched a certain player - but the individual story will be unique to each supporter.
The relationship between a fan and their club should not be underestimated, with people ploughing uncountable amounts of money, time and emotional energy into their support for their team.
But what is that makes us love our clubs the way we do?
"A lot of it comes down to our identity," researcher and co-writer of the Routledge Handbook of Sport Fans and Fandom Danielle Sarver Coombs told BBC Sport.
"We become part of this group that means so much to us. It becomes a way to find a community that you're a part of and to find a group of people that, no matter where you are, you could find a pub with other fans of your team. You have that kinship.
"In a world that's increasingly quite lonely, this provides one of the ways that we can have connections so we can have the feeling that we're part of something bigger."
Connection and identity plays a big role in someone's love for their club - particularly when it is a family link.
Many fans talk of being born into who they support - that the connection is so strong there was no other team they could, or would, have chosen.
"The great thing with football is that there's such a strong heritage component to it," Sarver Coombs said. "Often, your grandfather, father, mother or whomever was a fan of the team, so it's part of your family's tradition.
"It's handed down from generation to generation."
The uniqueness of football fandom is something researchers are increasingly investigating.
An article, external published earlier this year in psychology journal Frontiers discusses how football fans often follow follow teams with 'significant attachment and commitment, sometimes to the bewilderment of those outside of the game'.
"With football clubs, you have decades of tradition that you can tap into and it's going to keep coming," Sarver Coombs added.
"Players come and go, managers come and go, shirts change, badges change, but the club itself - the heart and soul of it remains constant. You always have that piece that you're tied to, so the longevity of clubs is a really important part.
"But also, that constant in-person opportunity to be present in a community space really sets football apart from other passions that may be transient or do not have that constant engagement."
Did Dewsbury-Hall fail at Chelsea?published at 11:40 BST 5 August
11:40 BST 5 August
Nizaar Kinsella BBC Sport football news reporter
Image source, Getty Images
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall hasn't had an easy time at Chelsea after following his former manager Enzo Maresca to Stamford Bridge in a £30m move from Leicester City.
The 26-year-old rejected an offer from Brighton to stay playing in the Premier League with his Championship-winning boyhood club, but Chelsea's move was too big to turn down.
The midfielder adapted well to Maresca's system at Chelsea, but not to playing a bit-part role as Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia and Enzo Fernandez all featured ahead of him in the midfield pecking order.
He started only twice in the Premier League but made an impact in their Conference League run, where he scored four times and came off the bench to set up Jadon Sancho's goal in the 4-1 triumph over Real Betis in May's final.
Dewsbury-Hall was used mainly as a substitute in the Club World Cup, but scored his fifth goal for the club in a 4-1 victory over Benfica and appeared in the 3-0 final success over Paris St-Germain.
He was a decent performer when given a chance for the Stamford Bridge side, but became part of a trend of players moving quickly in and then out again.
'Dewsbury-Hall is exactly what we need'published at 11:04 BST 5 August
11:04 BST 5 August
Image source, Getty Images
The Blue Room's Dave Downie talks to Total Sport's Paul Salt about Everton's latest transfer business with the club bidding for Chelsea's Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall:
"Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is a player that stuck out at Leicester for a long time. Hence the reason why he got to move to Chelsea. I wouldn't put any sort of thought in how much game time he gets there. I think he was always up against it when you look at the amount of players they go through.
"As much as I criticise Chelsea, they sign top players. They go and sign players that just don't seem to be able to gel. And I think that's what's been an issue for him at the club.
"In midfield, he's exactly what we need, somebody who's able to work alongside Idrissa Gana Gueye. We don't want to be going into a campaign with a 35-year-old who's our best player. For as much as I love him and as much as I'm happy for him to be Everton's starting midfield player, you still have to have people in and around them. So to go out and get one, that's a real priority area that I think we need to go and address.
"It's much more positive to go out and get a player Premier League proven. So this is a positive one in my regards and in terms of other deals that might happen."
Why Everton are in for Dewsbury-Hallpublished at 15:59 BST 4 August
15:59 BST 4 August
Jordan Butler BBC Sport
Image source, Getty Images
David Moyes has been vocal about his need for fresh faces this summer and the addition of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall would add much needed depth and quality to Everton's midfield.
The 26-year-old was an ever present for Chelsea in their successful Europa Conference League campaign, scoring four times in 13 appearances, but ultimately struggled to force his way into the Premier League side ahead of Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez.
He made two top-flight starts for the Blues and his total of 13 league appearances amounted to just 256 minutes of playing time.
But it will be Dewsbury-Hall's returns during Leicester's 2023-24 promotion season that will be of particular interest to Moyes as he seeks to replace the important attacking contributions of Abdoulaye Doucoure from central areas.
The box-to-box midfielder notched 12 goals and 14 assists for the Foxes as they won the division and that tally has only been bettered three times in the last 10 Championship seasons.
Everton 'my son's safe space' - fan storiespublished at 11:48 BST 4 August
11:48 BST 4 August
We know the relationship between a football fan and their club is a special one so, as we gear up for the new season, we asked you to share why you fell in love with Everton and some of your favourite moments supporting them.
Here are some of your submissions:
Image caption,
Katie: In our house, Everton means football. My son is selectively mute and autistic so it's his safe space. No matter if we win, lose or draw Harry still calls the players his superheroes. We sing all the Everton songs for seven hours on our way up to Liverpool and sometimes will be bouncing all the way back. Sometimes the car is very quiet on the way home. Leaving Goodison is the right decision for Everton but personally it comes with a new set of challenges for my boy. But as long as his superheroes keep going, so will Harry
Steve: I lived about 300 yards from Anfield but on Saturday, 28 April 1962 I crossed the park to go to Goodison for the first time with my dad. Everton 8-3 Cardiff City. The atmosphere, the players, I was hooked.
Alex Young, Roy Vernon and Derek Temple were fabulous forwards and the steel of Billy Bingham, Brian Harris and Jimmy Gabriel in midfield. Finally, Gordon West in goal. I said to my dad that they were good enough to win the league and next season they did! I've been an Evertonian since that day.
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Malcolm: My dad's best pal during the war had a brother-in-law who played for Everton in the early 60s. At Christmas 1962, he got his fellow team-mates to sign their autographs for me. So, I have some legends like Alex Young, Brian Labone and Billy Bingham and Gordon West's messages, all 'To Malcolm'.
'It wasn't supposed to be like this'published at 09:24 BST 4 August
09:24 BST 4 August
Simon Stone Chief football news reporter
Image source, Getty Images
Southampton's exciting talent Tyler Dibling is one of those David Moyes expects Everton to land this week. Dibling clearly has Premier League experience and his arrival would be a positive, yet, at 19, he is also one for the future.
It was impossible not to see Moyes in animated conversation with Tomas Soucek, someone he knows so well from his time at West Ham, at Chicago's Soldier Field last Wednesday, and think that is exactly the kind of player Everton need; solid, experienced, dependable.
Soucek is not a target but Moyes will be on the lookout for a player with similar attributes to the Czech Republic skipper, who he signed permanently for West Ham in 2020 for £19.1m.
Moyes believes Jarrad Branthwaite might be fit enough to join the main group for training this week after the 23-year-old missed the US trip with a minor niggle.
Having Branthwaite and James Tarkowski back in defence will make Everton more solid. But Moyes knows it is not enough, which is why all the talk of Jack Grealish heading to the club might be premature.
Grealish would undoubtedly be an exciting addition, albeit with significant caveats around his form - he has not been the same player since Manchester City's 2023 Treble season and Moyes is not one to easily dismiss Pep Guardiola's assessment of the 29-year-old - and cost, even of a loan.
However, if it is to happen, it will be much later in the window. Everton have far more fundamental issues to address just now.
'We've picked up but not enough' - Moyespublished at 09:06 BST 4 August
09:06 BST 4 August
Image source, Getty Images
Everton boss David Moyes was happier with the way his team performed against Manchester United in the final match of the Premier League Summer Series in the United States.
The friendly, which took place overnight in Atlanta, finished 2-2 and saw James Tarkowski get some valuable minutes under his belt as he continues his return from his hamstring injury.
"We had a team which was more equipped to have a chance of being more competitive," said Moyes. "We were nowhere near in the first or the second game as we didn't have enough players fit enough, but we're just starting to get one or two back.
"In the first game we were five players out of position trying to find a team. But I thought it was better [against Manchester United], I thought we played much better.
"We've picked up, but not enough, and I would have hoped that we'd be much further down the line than we've been.
"I think there will be deals next week. I think we're getting much closer, but I've got to say that I felt that four or five weeks ago as well. But obviously we're getting near the tickly bits and we've got to get some things done.
"We know that we have to make several additions and more. Even for the numbers, we might even have people in the squad who we'd like to put them out on loan or do other things with them. So we're needing generally to add to the squad and we need to get some of the main players in quickly."
Following the conclusion of the Premier League Summer Series, the Toffees will return home and turn their attention to hosting Roma at the Hill Dickinson Stadium for the first time.
"That'll be a great occasion for us all," added Moyes. "For us all to go down there and see what it looks like, and hopefully a good day of weather and fill the place out.
"I would love to be able to have a couple of players which I could tell the crowd 'this is the start'.
"But if not, the big sign is that we should have Jarrad [Brainthwaite] back in training when we return on Wednesday - with a bit of luck."
Moyes 'really confident' new players will joinpublished at 21:40 BST 2 August
21:40 BST 2 August
Image source, Getty Images
Everton manager David Moyes - speaking to media before Sunday's game against Manchester United - brought up the imminent move into the club's magnificent new stadium: "We see ourselves coming out of a bad situation. The Everton fans want to believe there is something better ahead of us. But you do get little teething problems, we have a new stadium and new owners. But I am really positive about the opportunity we have. The blue side of Liverpool has been waiting a long time to move. We will pack it out every week. My job is to give the supporters a team they enjoy coming to watch."
Moyes on recruitment: "Not going to shout out names because there have been that many, I wouldn't know where to start. We are trying to improve and we need to have a stronger squad but I am really confident we will have quite a few new players in. I am really positive we will have quite a few new players before the window shuts."
Are Everton looking in the right place with Dibling?published at 14:17 BST 1 August
14:17 BST 1 August
Joe Bradshaw BBC Sport Senior Journalist
It seems a touch ironic that in seeking to address their goalscoring difficulties, Everton have targeted an attacker from one of the only two teams to score fewer than them last season.
On the face of it, Tyler Dibling and his two Premier League goals for Southampton will not really move the dial for David Moyes – and at a cost of £27m+ to boot.
Now, in the post below BBC Radio Solent's Adam Blackmore explains what the talented 19-year-old has to offer, and it is only a few months removed from figures of more than £100m being quoted for his services.
So what do the numbers say about his potential?
Last season, he scored two goals from nine shots on target, notching every 937 minutes. That is a long way behind Beto's 191 minutes per goal or even the 537 minutes managed by the much-maligned Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Dibling caught the eye with his close control last season, but after a hot start he faded in the malaise of Southampton's season, and a dribbling success rate of 47% was middle of the road for the two squads.
For instance, Illiman Ndiaye offered 48.5% and Dwight McNeil 53%. Dibling's shooting accuracy was below his potential future team-mates too.
However, while the numbers do not suggest a huge improvement, Everton would be buying great potential, and filling a significant hole in their squad.
The touch map below shows Dibling clung mainly to the right side of Southampton's attack, tending to cut in on his left foot to make things happen. That was the position taken up by Jack Harrison in his 34 appearances last year and he has now returned to Leeds.
Image source, Opta
It would be highly unfair to criticise a 19-year-old trying to find his feet in his first season, playing for one of the worst teams in Premier League history.
After all, he caught the eye of some of the division's highest-performing clubs last season – and Moyes has polished up plenty of gems before.
Is Dibling move an admission of defeat on Fofana?published at 14:16 BST 1 August
14:16 BST 1 August
Nizaar Kinsella BBC Sport football news reporter
Image source, Getty Images
Everton's bid for Southampton winger Tyler Dibling is perhaps part of an admission that it will be difficult to sign Malick Fofana from Lyon.
Fofana has not completely ruled out a move to the Toffees but after reports that talks were at an "advanced" stage, there is a clear reluctance from the Belgium international to move to Merseyside.
European powerhouses like Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool have expressed an interest, which has led to the 20-year-old to sit tight and stall on any move to Everton.
'Dibling gets rave reviews'published at 11:50 BST 1 August
11:50 BST 1 August
Adam Blackmore BBC Radio Solent sports editor
Image source, Getty Images
Tyler Dibling gets rave reviews when I speak to senior players and former players about him. They see a young English talent who has great potential and huge natural ability.
Dibling has great balance, poise, power and strength for his age. The ball sticks to his feet when he is dribbling and he can win free-kicks by sucking defenders in only to shift the ball away from them in a Jack Grealish style.
Last season was a steep learning curve for him. It was a tough campaign for a teenager to deal with. He was brilliant at times but as the season faded for Southampton, it also faded for Dibling.
His niggling injuries impacted him as well as the vagaries of trying to play at the highest level week in week out, which few 18-year-olds can do.
He is a quiet and thoughtful teenager, who doesn't look for the centre stage, but his talent is good enough to demand it at some point in the future, if he keeps growing as he has.
I've said all summer that Southampton should be trying to get £40-50m for him, so we will see what the club accept at the end of the day, if he wants to go to Everton of course.
He went to Chelsea as a youngster but didn't like it and came back to Saints, so that in itself says a lot about what is important to him.
Everton in desperate need of goalspublished at 09:27 BST 1 August
09:27 BST 1 August
Matthew Hobbs BBC Sport journalist
Image source, Getty Images
Everton failed with a £27m bid for 19-year-old Southampton winger Tyler Dibling yesterday – a microcosm of an underwhelming transfer window where boss David Moyes has vented his frustration at the club's inability to get deals over the line.
The Blues have signed four players so far, including teenage full-back Adam Aznou from Bayern Munich on Tuesday, but they are yet to address a lack of creativity and goals in their current squad - and have scored just twice from open play in five pre-season matches so far.
Everton may yet return with another bid for Dibling and have been linked with Manchester City's Jack Grealish – targets that show they are in dire need of more attacking threat.
Only relegated Leicester City and Southampton scored fewer Premier League goals from open play than Everton's 25 in 2024-25, while the Toffees also ranked 17th for expected goals from open play – indicating very few chances were even being created.
Gossip: Everton wait for Luizpublished at 07:24 BST 1 August
07:24 BST 1 August
Everton will wait until the final weeks of the transfer window to make a loan offer for Juventus and Brazil midfielder Douglas Luiz, 27. (GiveMesport), external
Send your pictures and stories of why you love Evertonpublished at 16:33 BST 31 July
16:33 BST 31 July
On Monday, we asked you to tell us why you fell in love with Everton and some of your favourite moments supporting them.
You have already been getting in touch with your photos and stories and here is just a taste from Jeff:
This picture is of last season's away match at Ipswich. Together with two mates (in the middle and on the right). What makes it so special is that we have a season ticket and we visit away matches.....while we live in the Netherlands!
Why do I love Everton so much? That is a good question.
We have not won silverware since 1995 - the club's management has been terrible and amateurish for years and frankly I cannot stand a lot of our current players.
But silverware, the board and the current players do not make the club. The fans do.
As do the true Blues from the past. From Dixie Dean to Colin Harvey. From Alan Ball to Peter Reid. From Andy Gray to Big Dunc. And so many more. Everton is in my blood. In good times and bad times. Up the Toffees!
So join the conversation and send your best photos about why you love Everton.
Your first visit to the stadium? A special kit? An amazing away trip?
Image source, Opta
