Everton meet Newcastle United at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on Wednesday evening, with both clubs using the fixture to sharpen up for the Premier League campaign. Kickoff is at 5:15 pm BST, and the match lands at a point in the summer when every minute on the pitch starts to matter.
For Everton, the timing is useful. Jordan Pickford looks set to make his first appearance of the pre-season after his post-World Cup break, while Christian Norgaard should feature for the first time after being left at Finch Farm during the tour of Germany to get up to speed. Thierno Barry and Iliman Ndiaye are also expected to come in from the start after substitute appearances at Stuttgart.
The context is a little uneven. Everton lost 3-1 at Stuttgart in their previous match, but they have still won twice in five friendly fixtures this summer, which is enough to show that the warm-up has produced some useful moments without yet giving a clean read on their form. Newcastle arrive after beating Valencia in their most recent pre-season outing, and Matthias Jaissle is preparing to lead a new era after Eddie Howe stepped down as manager and Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes were sold.
That is what gives this friendly more edge than the usual summer runout. It is also available to stream live via evertontv, with one-time match passes priced at £5.99 per fixture, a straightforward option for anyone following the build-up from home. Brennan Johnson completed his move to Everton on Tuesday, and his availability adds one more question to a squad that is still taking shape before the season proper begins.
By the time the game starts at 5:15 pm BST, the search around Everton Vs Newcastle will not be about a headline-friendly scoreline so much as how quickly both sides can turn pre-season work into something that survives when the Premier League campaign begins.
