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-sm.jpg>) Everton welcome Lille to Hill Dickinson Stadium this weekend for the club’s final pre-season fixture. David Moyes will want his side to retain momentum after an impressive 3-1 win over Newcastle United in Edinburgh in midweek. Everton produced the best performance of the pre-season programme so far to run out comfortable winners at Murrayfield, courtesy of goals from Thierno Barry, Iliman Ndiaye, and Tyrique George. Lille finished third in Ligue 1 last season to secure Champions League football, before a change of coach at The Stade Pierre-Mauroy. A familiar face will be in the opposition dugout this weekend as ex-Everton assistant Davide Ancelotti, son of former Blues’ boss Carlo, returns to Merseyside. Everton Team News Jarrad Branthwaite is set to return to the Everton side after sitting out the win over Newcastle. Branthwaite’s absence in Edinburgh was pre-planned as Everton manage his load during the pre-season, following his hamstring issues. Jordan Pickford did not return to the squad, as expected, but should start here. New signings Brennan Johnson and Christian Norgaard could also feature for the Toffees for the first time. Merlin Röhl, Tyler Dibling and Jake O’Brien will all hope to return after starting as substitutes at Murrayfield. Tim Iroegbunam will not feature after sustaining a hamstring injury that has scuppered a potential move to Hull City. Hull had lodged a formal offer for the 23-year-old, whose contract expires next summer. The fee involved was around £16M. Everton Predicted Lineup (4-2-3-1) Pickford; O'Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Röhl, Armstrong, Dewsbury-Hall; Ndiaye, Barry, George. Everton vs Lille: Match Details Kick-off: 3 pm BST, Saturday 15 August 2026 Venue: Hill Dickinson Stadium, Liverpool How to Watch Everton vs Lille Pre-season games are available to stream live via evertontv. One-time match passes are available for £5.99 per fixture. All can follow updates here, on the ToffeeWeb Live Forum. Reader Comments (27) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer () 1 Posted 14/08/2026 at 12:33:34 But, as every single person other than David Moyes knows this, I won't bother. 2 Posted 14/08/2026 at 13:43:15 3 Posted 14/08/2026 at 14:45:33 We honestly write off the games until deadline day. 4 Posted 14/08/2026 at 14:55:35 Pickford O'Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite Rohl, Armstrong, Dewsbury-Hall, Hackney, Ndiaye, Barry, George Rohl's up-and-down running could cover right-back to make a 4 when required. George has done enough preseason. Barry slightly better than Beto. 5 Posted 14/08/2026 at 15:37:12 Note to self, Davey: We still haven't got a decent right-back at the club!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 6 Posted 14/08/2026 at 15:51:32 7 Posted 14/08/2026 at 16:03:22 Everton's first bid is usually a tenner and 3 Mars bars. 8 Posted 14/08/2026 at 20:08:53 Pickford Rohl O'Brien Branthwaite Mykolenko Hackney Dibling Armstrong Dewsbury-Hall George Johnson Barry It will probably be Tarkowski, with O'Brien at right-back though. But let's see the new guys together! 9 Posted 14/08/2026 at 20:48:55 10 Posted 14/08/2026 at 22:07:58 It will probably be O'Brien and Branthwaite in the centre so Davey can finish the game with Tarkowski and Keane as late subs; that pretty much looks like our defence options. Enjoy. 11 Posted 14/08/2026 at 22:09:48 I was debating if he'd play Hackney or Armstrong, and ended up with both. Few beers in mate, forgive me!! 12 Posted 14/08/2026 at 23:06:48 Who's going to notice 10 defending instead of 9? 13 Posted 15/08/2026 at 03:59:46 Not once have I seen on any football site, any TV show, or any football outlet a headline saying there is a world shortage of competent right-backs in football. This is an absolute disgrace that this has gone on for 3 seasons. I'm convinced Moyes doesn't want one so he can say, "Well, I begged them but they didn't listen, so I'm playing O'Brien there." And to think there was plenty on here only a few short days ago saying that this Nick Hammond and his team are working wonders, or words to that effect. I'd sack the fucking lot of them today... 'incompetent' doesn't even begin to cover it. 14 Posted 15/08/2026 at 05:23:33 That's the deadline. 17 days. Not the seven before the season opens. 16 Posted 15/08/2026 at 05:54:31 Only in football can you start the show with understudies, instead of the genuine article. Imagine going to watch a play in the West End expecting to see Sir Ian McKellen and Judy Dench, only to find Danny Dyer and Mrs Brown in the lead parts. Yet football clubs expect us to pay top dollar before the cast has actually been fully assembled. Football, taking fans' loyalty for granted for far too long. 17 Posted 15/08/2026 at 07:22:48 I'll be surprised if it's over 30k. 18 Posted 15/08/2026 at 08:06:49 Even if we do, Moyes will want to “integrate” them into the squad. Followed by "they aren't up to speed yet". Of course, if we buy an overseas player, that will allow Moyes to use another of his favourite terms: "They aren't Premier League ready yet". Bearing in mind it's a position of need, we should definitely have prioritised one well before the new season kicks off. 19 Posted 15/08/2026 at 08:11:07 20 Posted 15/08/2026 at 09:19:55 Moyes does not want overlapping, goal-threat full-backs. His flat back four don't leave their own half, and won't accommodate it. That's why Mykolenko works for him. That's why Alistair Johnston would work for him. 22 Posted 15/08/2026 at 09:40:45 Looking like we won't match last season's spend, despite an increased income. 23 Posted 15/08/2026 at 11:11:04 I think anything like 30k turning up today would be a very good crowd for an Everton pre-season game -- especially as this one is available online for streaming for the princely sum of £5.99. Sill, all good grift to the TFG coffers and the every little bit helps toward the SCR revenue bottom line. 24 Posted 15/08/2026 at 11:13:37 It's gross negligence and I'll bet it hasn't happened at any other Premier League club. This time last year, it was the Tete affair, since then it seems like they haven't bothered their arses to even identify one. Oh yes, there's been links, of course, but it seems to be there's other areas of more importance. And while I'm in one... why hasn't there been any interest in a left-back he doesn't trust Aznou, and every match-going fan and those watching from far-flung shores knows Mykolenko is garbage. I'm sick of it, and I suspect thousands more are. 25 Posted 15/08/2026 at 11:34:48 We are reputedly interested in signing Munoz from Palace but they want £25M for a 30-year-old. We are obviously trying to sign a right-back but it ain't easy, they have to be good enough, then you have to convince the player to come, plus all the other dots have to line up. 27 Posted 15/08/2026 at 11:38:51 28 Posted 15/08/2026 at 11:42:27 It isn’t easy to find a decent full back of course, unless you are every other club in the premier league. Juanlu Sanchez, Costinha, Marco Palestra, Oscar Mingueza, Thomas Meunier…there are simply none to be found. 29 Posted 15/08/2026 at 12:30:42 This is not about this window and the time left to do business (and of course the 'intergration' issue). It's a years long saga and the lack of action in that time is strong evidence for my theory. I also think losing the transfer money for Tim seriously reduces the chances of this position being strengthened, given it has never been a big priority. As for left back, again, I've seen no evidence the club sees it necessary to get a proper upgrade on Myko. 30 Posted 15/08/2026 at 12:36:39 Along the lines of. "no other club in Europe has signed a right back yet, why should we" Add Your Comments In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site. Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site. How to get rid of these ads and support TW