Leeds United, buoyed by the explosive Elland Road crowd, pinned Everton inside their own half for virtually the entire first 45 minutes, with the hosts taking 12 shots while preventing the Toffees from having any of their own, leaving the hosts extremely unfortunate to still be level at the break.

Leeds United marked their return to the Premier League with a well-deserved 1-0 win over Everton under the lights at Elland Road. United played well in the first half and dominated the ball, bullying the Everton defence in the box from set-pieces - alas without a goal.

The image of David Moyes’ hands on his head at the stroke of half-time was an appropriate metaphor for their season opener against Leeds United at Elland Road. In the first half, the Toffees

Leeds United vs Everton will seal the first round of the 2025/26 Premier League season. Jack Grealish will start for Everton.

Preview the matchup between Leeds United and Everton FC with predictions, odds, over/under, betting lines and more.

Daniel Farke ’s Leeds will never have the romance of Bielsa’s but a prosaic win qualified as a “really magic night” for a manager who entered his 50th Premier League game with just six wins to his name but who could claim the meagre resources at Norwich accounted for that record.

It’s in memory of Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva who sadly passed away in a car accident over the summer. Every game in Matchday 1 of the 2025–26 season will be marked with the same rituals: players wearing black armbands, a minute’s silence before kick-off and tribute messages on the screens.

Sky Sports pundits Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville were in agreement that Leeds United were correctly awarded their match-winning penalty against Everton. James Tarkowski was perhaps harshly judged to have handled the ball in the 82nd minute and Lukas Nmecha scored the resulting kick from 12 yards.