Crystal Palace's New Era Begins: Sage Faces Tough Test Against Everton
Crystal Palace’s new era under Pierre Sage begins with a test that has broken better Eagles sides than this.
An opening-day trip to Everton on Saturday afternoon, at a Hill Dickinson Stadium still waiting to feel like home, is no gentle introduction for the Frenchman’s first competitive game in charge.
Palace arrive with European silverware in their luggage and a reputation to defend after last season’s historic Conference League triumph. They also arrive with scars. Recent history against Everton has been brutal.
Sage steps into the spotlight
Sage replaces Oliver Glasner with expectations already high. His work at Lens last season — a Coupe de France title and second place in Ligue 1 — was the sort of campaign that propels a coach into a different bracket. Now comes the Premier League, and a fixture list that wastes no time.
He walks straight into one of Palace’s great problem opponents.
The numbers are stark. Palace have beaten Everton just once in their last 23 Premier League meetings, drawing 10 and losing 12. Across all competitions, Everton are 11 unbeaten against the Londoners. Palace have not won away at Everton since the 2014/15 season.
Yet Sage has made it clear: his side will not travel to Merseyside looking for a point. Ambition, he insists, will define this new Palace.
They will need that edge. Palace have not won their opening Premier League fixture since the 2023/24 campaign. Only two of the club’s previous 16 permanent managers have triumphed in their first league game in charge. The job is big, the trend unforgiving.
There is a counterweight. Palace were quietly one of the division’s best travellers last season. Twenty-four of their 45 points came away from home. This group knows how to handle hostile afternoons.
Everton’s own uneasy start
Everton have their own ghosts to confront.
The move to Hill Dickinson Stadium did not deliver the intimidating fortress many expected. Home form lagged, momentum slipped, and a promising push for Europe collapsed in the final stretch. A seven-game winless run to close the league season killed off their continental hopes.
David Moyes, back in the Goodison orbit and now trying to shape a new chapter, has a different kind of opening-day problem. Everton have lost their first league game in each of the last four seasons, failing to score in any of them. One more defeat would drag that sequence into outright embarrassment.
They also arrive on the back of that same seven-game winless streak. Under Moyes, Everton have never gone eight Premier League matches without a victory. The line is drawn here.
Something has to give: Palace’s wretched record against Everton, or Everton’s habit of starting seasons in reverse.
Set-piece frailty and fine margins
If there is one flaw Sage cannot ignore, it is hiding in plain sight.
Palace conceded 20 goals from set pieces in the Premier League last season, the joint-highest tally in the division. Those goals accounted for 39% of all they let in, the highest proportion of any side. Corners, free-kicks, second balls — they hurt Palace more than anyone else.
Against a Moyes team, that is a dangerous weakness to carry.
Everton are far from flawless, but they will not need a second invitation if Palace’s organisation at dead balls wobbles again. For all the talk of new ideas and attacking ambition, this is where the new manager’s work will be measured in the short term: can Palace stop conceding the same type of goal, over and over?
Palace team news: new faces, tight calls
Selection for Sage’s first Premier League line-up is already complicated.
Dean Henderson is a doubt after twisting his ankle in the final pre-season friendly against Freiburg. If he does not make it, “serial winner” Walter Benitez is ready for a competitive debut in goal, an early chance to show why Palace moved for him.
On the right flank, Daniel Muñoz is short of minutes, having played only 18 in pre-season following his involvement at the 2026 World Cup. That opens the door for new signing Oscar Mingueza to step straight in at right wing-back, a significant responsibility in Sage’s 3-4-2-1 shape.
Up front, there is another key absentee. Jean-Philippe Mateta has not featured since the World Cup, which leaves Jorgen Strand Larsen as the likely spearhead of the attack.
Behind him, Palace will lean again on Ismaila Sarr. Last season’s top scorer with 21 goals is expected to start despite ongoing speculation over his future. Sage has also been impressed by Matheus Franca, who hit four goals in pre-season, but the Brazilian may have to wait his turn from the bench.
The framework is clear: a back three, adventurous wing-backs, Sarr carrying the threat, and a manager determined to stamp his identity on a club that has already tasted European glory.
What Palace have not managed, for a decade now, is to walk into Everton’s home and leave with three points. If Sage can rip up that script on day one, the tone of this season — for both clubs — will change very quickly.
