Everton's Fiery Start and Key Derby Dates in 2026/27 Premier League

Everton know their route now. The 2026/27 Premier League fixture list has dropped, and David Moyes’ side have been handed a season that starts with opportunity, bristles with subplots and ends with a potentially fraught trip to Portman Road.

They open at home. Crystal Palace visit the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday August 22, a 3pm kick-off that offers Everton the chance to plant an early flag in front of their own supporters after last season’s 13th-place finish. A week later, they head south to Bournemouth, before Manchester United roll into town on September 5 for the first glamour fixture of the campaign.

From the outset, there’s little room to breathe. Tottenham away follows United, then newly-promoted Ipswich at home rounds off September. By the end of the first full month, Everton will already have faced one of the league’s traditional heavyweights and one of its new arrivals.

Early reunions and promoted tests

The calendar wastes no time in stirring the emotions. On November 7, Coventry City come to the Hill Dickinson, bringing former Everton manager Frank Lampard back to Merseyside. It’s one of three meetings with promoted sides in the opening 10 league games, a crucial strand in any bid to climb the table.

Ipswich visit in September, Coventry in November, and Hull City appear on the horizon in October with a trip to the MKM Stadium. These are the sort of fixtures that define mid-table ceilings and top-half ambitions.

October, though, is no gentle run-up. After Hull away on the 10th, Everton host Chelsea on the 17th, then travel to Arsenal on the 24th and Newcastle on the 31st. Four games, three of them away, two of them at grounds where points are historically hard to come by. If Moyes wants to test his squad’s resilience, the league has obliged.

Derby revenge ringed in red

One date stands out above all others. November 28. Liverpool at home.

Everton’s chance to avenge last season’s stoppage-time heartbreak in the Merseyside derby comes late in the autumn, under what will almost certainly be a raw, cold sky at the Hill Dickinson. The reverse fixture at Anfield lands on January 30, bracketing the turn of the year with two games that will shape the mood of the blue half of the city.

Between those derbies, the calendar is unforgiving. After Coventry and Brentford away on November 21, Liverpool arrive, and then December opens with a night under the lights at Aston Villa on the 2nd. Fulham at home, Brighton and Nottingham Forest away, and a Boxing Day clash with Sunderland at home complete a busy festive period before Manchester City visit on December 30 for an 8pm kick-off that has all the makings of a heavyweight occasion.

Festive home comforts, brutal winter tests

Boxing Day brings a traditional touch. Sunderland travel to Merseyside on December 26, giving Everton supporters a festive fixture on home soil. Four days later, the champions-in-waiting or contenders-in-chief — whoever City are at that stage — come to town. It is a demanding double-header that could either ignite Everton’s season or expose their limits.

January offers no real respite. Leeds away on the 2nd, Aston Villa at home on the 6th, Coventry away on the 16th, Brentford at home on the 23rd, then that Anfield trip on the 30th. Somewhere in the middle of that, the FA Cup third round looms on January 9, a date that always carries its own weight on the English calendar.

February’s shape hints at a potential push or a nervy shuffle. Newcastle at home on the 6th, Leeds under the lights at 8pm on the 10th, Sunderland away on the 20th and Nottingham Forest at home on the 27th. Four fixtures that feel winnable on paper, four fixtures that often decide whether a season drifts or sharpens into focus.

Spring run-in against the elite

March drags Everton back into the orbit of the giants. They go to Manchester City on March 3 for another 8pm kick-off, then visit Manchester United on the 13th. Tottenham come to the Hill Dickinson on March 20, three tests in quick succession against sides who expect to be in the top four conversation.

Beyond that, the league’s storylines start to narrow. April begins with Crystal Palace away on the 10th, then Bournemouth at home on the 17th and Brighton at home on the 24th. These are the weeks when league tables stop lying and every point begins to feel heavier.

May, as ever, carries the final verdict. Fulham away on the 1st, Hull at home on the 8th, Chelsea away on the 15th and Arsenal at home on the 23rd form a demanding stretch before the curtain falls at Ipswich on May 30, a 4pm kick-off at Portman Road that could matter enormously at both ends of the table.

The domestic cups have their own landmarks pencilled in: FA Cup third round on January 9, Carabao Cup final on March 21, FA Cup final on May 22. Where Everton sit around those dates will say plenty about how successfully they’ve navigated this gauntlet.

The fixtures are out, the path is clear. The question now is simple: can Moyes turn this demanding schedule into a platform for something more than mid-table anonymity?