Brentford will make their first visit to Hill Dickinson Stadium when they face Everton in the Premier League on Sunday (3pm kick-off GMT), live on Sky Sports.
The Bees head to Merseyside unbeaten in their last four league games, winning the last away trip 2-0 at Wolves. Everton won their most recent game away at Nottingham Forest, but narrowly lost their last home fixture to league leaders Arsenal.
Analysis, team news, match officials and more. Here's everything you need to know ahead of the game.
Pre-match Analysis
Stephen Gillett, Playmaker Stats: Keane and Tarkowski anchor Everton’s defensive resolve
Brentford will make their maiden appearance at Everton’s new Hill Dickinson Stadium in their first away clash of 2026, and an interesting challenge lies ahead: how do you attack a team that simply loves defending?
Currently one place and a single point behind the eighth-placed Toffees in the Premier League, the Bees face an Everton side that has rediscovered its DNA during David Moyes’ second stint at the club.
Industrious and organised, the Merseysiders have made a strong start to the 2025/26 campaign and have very much built from the back. Only Arsenal (12), Manchester City (17) and Sunderland (18) have conceded fewer goals than Everton this season.
At the heart of the Toffees’ defensive efforts have been centre-backs James Tarkowski and Michael Keane, and a quick skim of the statistics illustrates how effective the pair are when it comes to protecting their own goal.
Both Tarkowski and Keane - in contention to start after missing the 2-0 win over Forest last time out - feature in the Premier League’s top 10 across three different statistical categories this term, excelling in clearances made, shots blocked and aerial duels won.
Brentford’s defenders are cut from similar cloth, with the likes of Nathan Collins and Sepp van den Berg also featuring towards the top end of such metrics this season. Everton (21.6) are, notably, the only team in the Premier League averaging more aerial duels won per 90 than Brentford (19.8).
Given their hosts’ physical prowess and defensive tenacity, Brentford head coach Keith Andrews will no doubt be keen to target Everton’s vulnerabilities rather than their strengths.
In this regard, Andrews could look to set traps for Moyes’ men in possession. Only five teams have lost possession more often this season than Everton (165), who also rank second in the top flight for unsuccessful touches, with 329. It is also worth noting that only Tottenham (23) have committed more errors leading to an opponent’s shot than Everton (20).
Despite their defensive solidity, only Wolves (11) and Forest (18) have scored fewer Premier League goals than Everton (20) this season, and Brentford may look to invite their hosts to over-commit in attack. After the blistering raid that led to Kevin Schade’s second goal in the 4-1 win over Bournemouth after Christmas, the Bees have scored six goals on the break this term - their ability to transition forward quickly a potent weapon in their armoury.
Both sides are likely to be organised, resilient and capable of dealing well with conventional threats. How they fare outside their respective comfort zones could therefore prove crucial.
Scout Report
Dan Long, Sky Sports: Moyes’ return offers Everton stability and belief
On 11 January - the day David Moyes returned to Goodison Park after 12 years away - Everton were 16th in the Premier League, one point above the relegation zone and with a goal difference only marginally superior to Wolves and Ipswich, the two teams immediately below them.
But his homecoming roused something from deep within the squad. There was no way he was going to let the club slip any further into the relegation battle. With a new stadium just months away, retaining top-flight status was completely and utterly imperative.
They lost his first game 1-0 at home to Everton. Worryingly, that was the ninth time in 11 games the Toffees had failed to score. But that preceded a run of nine unbeaten, which included the 1-1 draw at Brentford on 26 February.
By the time of the March international break, Moyes’ side were 15th, but now with safety as good as secured, with the gap to Ipswich in 18th having grown to 17 points, which was - to all intents and purposes - an unassailable advantage. By the season’s conclusion, the gap was 23 points, with Everton finishing with three straight wins for the first time in 36 years to secure a 13th-place finish - their highest since 2020/21.
They signed off at Goodison Park - their home since 1892 - with a 2-0 win over Southampton in the penultimate game of the season, courtesy of an Iliman Ndiaye double. On the final day, Charly Alcaraz’s goal sealed a 1-0 victory away at Newcastle.
Speaking to the BBC after that result, Moyes said: “The biggest thing I’d have to say is, with the mentality, what we’ve got inside the dressing room, what we’ve got inside the football club is something special.
"Let’s hope we can keep it going; let’s hope we can build on it for next season, because the form since I’ve come in has been amazing.”
In two of the four seasons prior to 2025/26, Everton had flirted with relegation despite encouraging starts. In 2021/22, they won four of the first six, but survived by just four points and, in 2022/23, they took 10 points from the first nine, but survived by just two points.
They won four of the first seven at the start of this season - which included a 2-0 win against Brighton, the first Premier League match at their new Hill Dickinson Stadium - but there has been no sudden slip into trouble this season.
For now, many will still be content with the consistency brought by Moyes' return to Merseyside and the long-awaited feeling of stability and security that had been absent in turbulent recent years.
In the Dugout
David Moyes
Like the majority of his managerial colleagues in the Premier League, David Moyes had a long and successful playing career before turning his hand to coaching.
He started at Celtic as a professional in 1980 - where he won the Scottish Premiership in 1981/82 - and went on to play for Cambridge United, Bristol City, Shrewsbury, Dunfermline Athletic, Hamilton and Preston. He was part of the North End squad that won the Third Division in 1995/96, and he retired at the age of 35, having played his last game in February 1998.
By this point, he had been appointed Preston manager, a role for which he was well-equipped, having started taking his coaching badges in his early 20s. Just over four years later, in March 2002, he was approached by Everton and soon swapped Division Two for the Premiership.
During his nine-year spell on Merseyside, Moyes brought a 16-year-old Wayne Rooney into the first team and into the eyes of the world and, from 2006/07 and 2012/13, steered the Toffees to seven straight top-eight finishes, as well as reaching the 2008/09 FA Cup final, which they lost 2-1 to Chelsea.
In the summer of 2013, he was given the unenviable task of replacing Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United, but he lasted less than a year of the six-year deal he signed and was sacked in April 2014.
A year in La Liga with Real Sociedad followed, where he won only 12 of his 42 games in charge, before he returned to England with Sunderland. It was just eight victories from 43 matches there, with his spell ending in the Black Cats’ relegation after a decade in the top flight.
Moyes was handed a six-month deal to take over at West Ham in November 2017 and tasked with securing survival after the sacking of Slaven Bilić, which he did. However, his contract was not extended in the summer, and he departed the London Stadium after 31 games and a 29 per cent win ratio.
The Scot returned to east London in December 2019 and was in charge of the Hammers until the end of the 2023/24 season, when his contract was not renewed. He oversaw the historic Europa Conference League win in 2022/23 and left with the highest win percentage of the club's permanent managers, with 44.59 across 231 games in his second spell.
Moyes returned to management after a short spell away from the game, returning to Everton on a two-and-a-half-year contract on 11 January 2025. The 62-year-old has managed 735 Premier League games, behind only Sir Alex Ferguson (810) and Arsène Wenger (828).
The Gameplan
With Christopher Beesley, Liverpool Echo
Christopher Beesley, Everton reporter for Liverpool Echo, has explained how he expects David Moyes to set up his Everton side at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
"David Moyes rarely deviates from his usual 4-2-3-1 formation", Beesley said in Hot off the Press earlier this week.
"Everton are not as direct as they have been in recent years, though, with Jack Grealish now in the side.
"However, Iliman Ndiaye - who is currently away with Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations - is a big miss."
Last Premier League starting XI v Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Patterson, O'Brien, Tarkowski, Mykolenko; Garner, Iroegbunam; Dibling, Röhl, McNeil; Barry
Match Officials
Taylor given second Brentford game of the campaign
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Assistants: Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn
Fourth official: Adam Herczeg
VAR: Tony Harrington
Anthony Taylor will take charge of his second Brentford game of the season on Sunday, after being in charge of the Bees' 2-1 defeat away at Sunderland.
Manchester-born Taylor joined the ranks of EFL officials in 2006 before progressing to the Select Group 1 of top-flight officials for the 2010/11 season. He became the first man since Arthur Kingscott in 1901 to referee multiple FA Cup finals when he oversaw Arsenal's 2-1 victory against Chelsea in May 2020.
So far this season, Taylor has taken charge of 22 matches across various competitions, showing 85 yellow cards and two reds. Five of those bookings came when Keith Andrews' side visited the Stadium of Light earlier this term.
Memorable Meeting
Everton 2 Brentford 3, (Premier League, 15 May 2022)
Rico Henry scored the winner as Brentford came from behind to beat Everton in a rip-roaring Premier League encounter.
The Bees fell behind early on before the hosts were reduced to ten men. A deflected Yoane Wissa shot levelled it up, before the same man headed a second equaliser after the break.
But the final 3-2 score line only told part of the story. Everton ended the match with nine men and only had ten on the pitch when they scored their second goal, a penalty just before half-time.
And Brentford used the extra man to their advantage in the second period, as Henry netted a late third at Goodison Park.