Matchday six of the Premier League took place at 3pm with the matches Hull City – Everton and Crystal Palace – Nottingham Forest. The official line-ups have been published, highlighting some key absences and bench changes.
In the match between Hull City and Everton, Hull opted for a 5‑4‑1 with Tzolakis on the left wing, Coyle, Ajayi, Egan, Mendy and Giles in defence, and an attack consisting of Gelhardt, Crooks, Slater, Thomas and McBurnie. On the bench were Phillips, Morita, Belloumi, McNair, Norton-Cuffy, Stroud, Herrington, Iroegbunam and Vaz. Everton instead deployed a 4-2-3-1: Pickford in goal, Maitland-Niles, Tarkowski, Keane and Branthwaite in defence, with Armstrong and Garner in midfield, Johnson, Dewsbury-Hall and Grealish in attack, and Barry as striker. The Everton bench includes Travers, O'Brien, George, Dibling, Norgaard, Alcaraz, Hackney, Rohl and Graham.
As for Crystal Palace, the team adopted a 3‑4‑2‑1 with Benitez on the right wing, Mitchell, Canvot, Lerma, Pino, Kamada, Wharton, Strand Larsen, Timber, Khalaili and Richards. On the bench were Matthews, Sarr, Nketiah, McNeil, Hughes, Ahanor, Doucoure, Guessand and Mingueza. Nottingham Forest also chose a 3-4-2-1: Sels in goal, Aina, Diomande and Murillo in defence, with Munoz, McAtee, Schlager and Williams in midfield, and Ndoye and Gibbs-White in attack. Forest's reserve group includes Victor, Sangar, Hudson‑Odoi, Dominguez, Wood, Kalimuendo, Yates, Cunha and Netz.
Among the most notable absences, Takehiro Tomiyasu was ruled out of Crystal Palace due to injury, replaced by Lerma. Former Roma player Robinio Vaz was left out of the Hull City roster, as were former Genoa player Norton Cuffy and former Atalanta player Ahanor, both of whom were on the bench.
With these formations, the teams tried to optimize their formations for the next few days, maintaining a coherent tactical structure and managing the reserves for any changes in direction. The results of the matches, not reported in the press release, will define the trend of the rankings and prepare the teams for the subsequent matches.