33′ Richarlison is clumsily fouled by Neves, resulting in a free-kick for Everton in a great position out wide. Once again it’s Baines who sends a cross into the penalty area, but this time Wolves are able to clear the danger.
31′ Everton come back once again, this time over on the left wing. Richarlison picks up the ball from Gueye and tries to find a way through the Wolves defence, but he’s closed down well and quickly dispossessed.
29′ After a period on the back foot, Everton are able to push forward over on the right flank. Walcott gets himself into a good position and crosses, but it’s too low and easily cleared.
27′ Wolves are seeing plenty of the ball at the moment but are struggling to do much with it. They’ve looked decent going forward on a few occasions but are more often than not failing to find a way through the sea of blue camped in front of them.
25′ Jimenez and Jota link up nicely in the middle of the pitch as Wolves push forward on another decent attacking move, but Jonny’s cross from the left wing is poor and fails to get the better of Coleman.
23′ Wolves come back once again and are able to carve out a chance on goal for themselves, but Moutinho’s half-volley from the edge of the penalty area is slightly overhit and sails over the crossbar.
21′ A clever pass from Neves flies down the left wing and into the path of Jonny. Wolves then move the ball into the middle of the pitch as they try to find some space, but they’re kept at bay by Everton and are forced into retreating.
19′ Decent play by Wolves almost results in the home side carving out a chance on goal, but Doherty can’t quite latch onto a cross-field pass from Boly in a good position and loses out to Richarlison deep down the wing.
17′ Keane got a touch on the ball just before the Richarlison, nodding it down to the Brazilian on the edge of the six-yard box.
Richarlison
Goal
17′ GOAL! Everton have taken the lead! It’s Baines who steps up and sends a cross over to Richarlison, who manages to poke in from close range after initially failing to get his head onto the ball. What a start to his Everton debut!
16′ Richarlison darts down the flank once again before being clumsily fouled by Doherty, who concedes a free-kick in a dangerous position. What can they do with this?
Richarlison
Yellow Card
14′ Richarlison is clearly frustrated after being dispossessed, and he earns himself an early yellow card for a late sliding challenge on Moutinho.
13′ Richarlison breaks down the left wing on a quick run after Everton win back possession, but the Brazilian is well marshalled by Wolves and is dispossessed before he’s able to find some space for himself.
11′ Everton are able to fashion their first chance on goal after good play between Walcott and Coleman out wide. The full-back takes advantage of sloppy play by Boly and shoots, but his low effort fails to trouble Patricio.
10′ Costa looks as if he’s going to be able to carve out a chance on goal after a lovely pass from Jimenez manages to pick out the Portuguese, but he gets his first touch all wrong and he’s quickly dispossessed.
8′ Sigurdsson drifts out wide and picks up the ball in a decent position before winning a corner for Everton. They’re unable to make it count, though, as the ball is fired straight into the hands of Patricio.
6′ Moutinho swings a cross into the box that’s easily cleared, but Wolves quickly come back once again. A thumping pass is fired into the path of Moutinho, but the Portuguese can’t quite reach the ball in a pocket of space out wide.
5′ A poor attempted pass from Keane sails out of play for throw-in over on the left wing. It’s sent down the flank and worked over to Costa, who then wins a corner for Wolves off the foot of Walcott.
3′ After an even start to the game from both sides, it’s Wolves who push forward on the first decent attack of the afternon. Neves eventually swings a cross into the penalty area, but it’s overhit and lands on the roof of the net.
1′ We’re off! It’s Everton who get the final Premier League game of the day underway.
The two sides are making their way out onto the pitch, with just a few minutes to go until kick-off.
As for Everton, Silva has decided to hand a starting spot to former Watford winger Richarlison, but Digne is the only other new signing to feature in today’s squad. Sandro, back from his loan spell to Sevilla, is on the bench, while Tosun will lead the line just in front of Sigurdsson.
Several new signings have gone straight into the Wolves line-up, with Patricio, Moutinho, Jonny and Jimenez all featuring from the start. It’s a big day for the latter, who is yet to fully convince since moving to Europe and will be aiming to nail down a regular starting position up front.
Everton substitutes: Mason Holgate, Sandro Ramirez, Lucas Digne, Oumar Niasse, Maarten Stekelenburg, Tom Davies, Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Everton XI (4-2-3-1): Jordan Pickford; Seamus Coleman, Phil Jagielka, Michael Keane, Leighton Baines; Morgan Schneiderlin, Idrissa Gueye; Theo Walcott, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Richarlison; Cenk Tosun.
Wolverhampton Wanderers substitutes: Bright Enobakhare, Morgan Gibbs-White, John Ruddy, Romain Saiss, Ruben Vinagre, Kortney Hause, Leo Bonatini.
Wolverhampton Wanderers XI (3-4-2-1): Rui Patricio; Ryan Bennett, Conor Coady, Willy Boly; Matt Doherty, Joao Moutinho, Ruben Neves, Jonny Castro; Diogo Jota, Helder Costa; Raul Jimenez.
There’s just over 15 minutes left to go until kick-off, so let’s have a look at how the two teams will be lining up today…
Today’s game is going to be a tough one for Everton, but they’ve won each of their last five Premier League fixtures against newly promoted sides, keeping a clean sheet each time. They’re also unbeaten in their last six opening weekend games, with four of those ending in draws.
The fact that Everton finished eighth last season despite having such a messy campaign shows the amount of talent in their ranks, something that has swelled thanks to what looks like sensible spending over the summer. The Toffees have been handed a relatively friendly opening run of fixtures and will be looking to hit the ground running as they try to put last season firmly behind them.
It’s the dawn of a new era for Everton, who will be looking to put a poor season firmly behind them as they start their first campaign under Marco Silva. Ronald Koeman horribly misused funds last summer but Silva has been handed plenty more cash this year, resulting in £100m being spent bringing in the likes of Richarlison, Yerry Mina and Lucas Digne.
Wolves have strengthened an already impressive team over the summer and certainly look as if they’re going to fight hard for a place in the top half of the table. Experienced figures Rui Patricio and Joao Moutinho have joined the likes of Ruben Neves and Diogo Jota at the club, resulting in the West Midlands outfit understandably starting the campaign with plenty of optimism.
It’s not often a newly promoted side is one that neutrals are most excited to see in action, but that’s certainly the case with Wolves. A lot has changed in the six years since they were last in the top flight, with Nuno Espirito Santo’s dazzling brand of football seeing them comfortably collect the Championship title last season. Not content with merely avoiding relegation, many are tipping them to push for a top-10 finish.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of today’s Premier League game between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Everton at Molineux.
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M. Keane
Assist