Everton continue their pre-season schedule with a trip to Ewood Park to face Blackburn Rovers on Saturday afternoon.

Both clubs come into this clash on the back of meetings with Accrington Stanley, where Blackburn were narrow winners, but Everton were held by the League Two side.

Match preview

A big month awaits Everton, who are still fine tuning their squad ahead of moving into their new waterfront stadium on Bramley-Moore Dock.

Ambitions have been ramped up, as has their wiggle room in the transfer market, with manager David Moyes expecting even more additions on top of the three that have already come through the door this summer.

The Toffees will hope relegation fears are now a thing of the past, with new owners at the helm, and the impact Moyes had when arriving in January last season suggests they could be looking up instead of down in 2025-26.

Winning their final three games of the season saw Everton finish 13th, above the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, as well as a whopping 23 points clear of the drop zone.

Moyes’s men eased themselves back into action away to Accrington on Tuesday night, as Beto’s late penalty earned a 1-1 draw at the Wham Stadium, and they will jet off to the USA for the Premier League Summer Series after this trip to Ewood.

Roma await in the first senior match to be played at Hill Dickinson Stadium, before the Blues make the trip to Leeds United on the opening Monday night fixture of the new Premier League season.

Next up is Blackburn, who Everton beat in their last competitive meeting here during the 2011-12 Premier League season thanks to a late Mikel Arteta penalty, and then again in a 2013 friendly.

However, Blackburn were resounding winners in their last meeting back in 2018, thrashing Marco Silva’s Everton 3-0 here at Ewood Park.

A repeat of that will add more confidence to a side who are hoping to fight for the playoffs again next season, after falling narrowly short in May.

Valerien Ismael’s men finished seventh, just two points outside the top six, after taking 13 points from their final five matches, missing out on the final day.

It will be tough to replicate that campaign, but a winning start against Accrington in preseason suggests they could still be trending in the right direction.

Elche await after this clash with Everton, before their Championship campaign gets underway against West Bromwich Albion on August 9.

Blackburn Rovers Club Friendlies Form:

W

Everton Club Friendlies Form:

D

Team News

Harry Leonard and Andreas Weimann remain sidelined for Blackburn from the group of players that missed the final few games of last season, but Scott Wharton did return to play 30 minutes against Accrington last weekend.

Dion De Neve, a new arrival from Kortijk, made his first appearance for the club a week ago, but £2m signing Sidnei Tavares has not yet been involved, following his move from Moreirense.

Everton new boy Thierno Barry will not be involved until the club travels out for the PL Summer Series, as he was granted a later holiday following his appearances at the Under-21 Euros this summer.

Jarrad Branthwaite has overcome a minor setback that saw him miss the final game of last season, and he started against Accrington, but James Tarkowski remains out with the serious hamstring injury he suffered against Manchester City.

Carlos Alcaraz has made his loan move from Flamengo permanent, and he could partner Idrissa Gueye in midfield, after the Senegalese international signed a new one-year deal earlier this month.

Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:

Toth; Brittain, Hyam, Wharton, Yuri Ribeiro; Tronstad, De Neve, Travis; Dolan, Ohashi, Hedges

Everton possible starting lineup:

Travers; O’Brien, Keane, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Alcaraz, Garner, Iroegbunam, Armstrong, McNeil; Beto

We say: Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Everton

Everton were slightly lacklustre against Accrington, but they are without some of their key players, especially in attacking areas, so there will be no huge concerns following their first friendly.

Blackburn were victorious against the same opponents, and do have a real chance to beat Premier League opposition here too, but both clubs will be prioritising match sharpness over the result.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Andrew Delaney

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