Premier League: A new era begins at Everton while Eze and Isak in transfer sagas

By Canadian Press on August 21, 2025.

Everton will be showing off its new stadium this weekend. Might Arsenal be showing off a bold new signing?

The second round of the Premier League will see Everton finally begin life away from its long-time home of Goodison Park when the team plays the first competitive game at its waterfront, 53,000-seat arena at Bramley-Moore Dock.

Brighton will be the visitor on Sunday for the start of a new era for Everton, which — on the field — began the season in miserable fashion with a 1-0 loss at Leeds on Monday.

As for Arsenal, Saturday’s home match against Leeds could be an opportunity to introduce Eberechi Eze to the fans at Emirates Stadium, should his reported move from Crystal Palace go through.

British broadcaster Sky Sports reported Thursday that Arsenal had agreed to sign Eze for 67.5 million pounds ($90.8 million), beating fierce rival Tottenham to the signature of the England forward in what would be a dramatic twist.

Eze is set to make his final appearance for Palace in a Europa Conference League qualifier on Thursday. Neither Arsenal nor Palace has made an official comment about his potential move.

Here’s what else to know about the second round:

Key matchups

Liverpool’s trip to Newcastle on Monday is the standout match and it has added spice given the clubs’ dealings during the offseason regarding Alexander Isak.

Liverpool has had a bid rejected for the Sweden striker, who told Newcastle he wanted to explore his options and has been training away from the squad in recent weeks. Isak even released an explosive post on social media this week, saying his club had broken promises and that their relationship “can’t continue.”

Newcastle says the club hasn’t received an appropriate bid for Isak, who missed the 0-0 draw at Aston Villa in Round 1. Liverpool opened with an incident-filled 4-2 win over Bournemouth.

In another high-profile matchup, Manchester City hosts Tottenham on Saturday after both teams got off to a fast start to league play. City won 4-0 at Wolves and Tottenham triumphed 3-0 at home to Burnley.

Players to watch

Viktor Gyokeres had an underwhelming debut for Arsenal last weekend following his $85 million offseason move from Sporting Lisbon, touching the ball just 21 times, having no shots and getting substituted after 59 minutes of the 1-0 win at Manchester United. He’ll hope for more opportunities against Leeds.

Jack Grealish might get a first start for Everton after his loan move from Manchester City, having only been on the bench against Leeds.

Similarly, will Manchester United give a start to striker Benjamin Sesko away to Fulham on Sunday and therefore play together its three offseason signings in attack — Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha?

Out of action

Expect Isak to be missing again for Newcastle against Liverpool after his midweek social-media outburst. It leaves his team without a senior striker, having released Callum Wilson this summer and failed to bring in a replacement.

Liverpool was without Ryan Gravenberch against Bournemouth while he served a suspension, but the Netherlands midfielder is available again.

Arsenal is set to be without forward Kai Havertz against Leeds because of a reported knee injury, a development that likely ensures more game time for Gyokeres and might have been the spark for the club to make the move for Eze.

Off the field

Watch out for some potential vitriol between the supporters of Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest at Selhurst Park on Sunday.

Palace, the FA Cup winner last season, was demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League last month for breaching UEFA rules on club ownership, in a saga the club believes was influenced by Forest, which benefitted by being promoted to the Europa League at Palace’s expense.

Palace chairman Steve Parish even said so publicly last month, telling the Rest is Football podcast: “We’re led to believe that that’s the issue — if there wasn’t somebody that wanted to get in as a consequence, then there wouldn’t be a problem.”

British newspaper The Guardian has reported that Palace fans are planning a protest at the team’s first home game in the league — which happens to be when Forest visits — and that the club is in talks with the police regarding increased security.

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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Steve Douglas, The Associated Press

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