​The scene has been set for Everton to make a fresh start this season. David Moyes will have his first full campaign in charge since 2012-13, while the new stadium is complete and open for business.

On top of this, long-serving members of the squad, such as Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Mason Holgate, have been moved on, after a gradual decrease in their minutes on the pitch.

​Few Everton supporters will have complaints about the way their side has started this season. A defeat to Leeds United on the opening weekend of the Premier League was disappointing, although the decision to award the penalty that won Leeds the game was certainly questionable.

​However, the Toffees have triumphed in three consecutive matches since and currently sit 5th in the Premier League table. There is still a long way left to go, but here are four things we have learned so far about Everton.

​The Hill Dickinson Stadium is a roaring success

Moving to a new home is always a strange feeling, particularly after spending 133 years at the previous one. Goodison Park is one of English football’s classic grounds. It may not offer the best views in certain sections, but there is a certain charm about the stadium. Most importantly, it feels like home.

​The media and rival supporters were determined to tarnish the Hill Dickinson Stadium before it had even hosted a senior match. Many taunted Everton by saying it would be the best stadium in the Championship, whilst simultaneously comparing it with a generic Bundesliga ground with no soul or character. Commenting on its resemblance to a Tesco Superstore was another popular jibe.  

​However, Everton’s new home is an impressive state-of-the-art arena. The views are superb, and the potential is there to make it a cauldron of noise. Club legend Colin Harvey even described it as ‘very, very special’ and a ‘big, big step up’ from Goodison Park.

​Everton have won their two competitive matches so far at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, against Brighton and Mansfield Town. Moyes and his men will aim to make it a hat-trick of home wins on Saturday, as they host an Aston Villa side down in 19th, having picked up a single point from three matches.

​Pre-season is largely irrelevant

It was a rough pre-season for Everton in terms of results and performances. A draw with Accrington Stanley and a defeat to Blackburn Rovers was followed by a really poor 3-0 defeat at the hands of Bournemouth in the United States. Everton then lost to West Ham, defeated Manchester United on penalties and failed to score in a home defeat against Roma.

​These fixtures may not have been easy to watch, but they helped prepare Everton for the new season which is the important thing. It is easy to get carried away after a few bad games, but these setbacks have done nothing to harm Everton now the season has begun.

​It is worth remembering that players such as Jack Grealish and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall were only added to Moyes’s squad later in the transfer window and did not partake in the majority of Everton’s pre-season. Therefore, predicting the outcome of the season based on a few non-competitive fixtures is never a good idea.

Beto is still the main man up front for Everton

Believing everything you read is a dangerous road to travel, particularly in a day and age where spreading false rumours has never been easier.

​There were reports last month that claimed Beto was on his way out of Everton because he refused to conform to the methods of David Moyes, leaving his manager unimpressed. It would be strange if this were true, considering he is the fifth-highest goalscorer in the Premier League since the Scotsman made his return to Merseyside.

​Indeed, the rumours turned out to be untrue and Beto is still an Everton player. Furthermore, he has retained his position in the first team, despite the arrival of Thierno Barry. The 22-year-old striker bagged 11 goals and four assists in La Liga last season, but has only played 90 minutes across four competitive matches since joining.

​Everton’s lack of creativity has been fixed to a large extent

Everton were quite firm in defence last season, but there were obvious problems at the other end of the pitch. The only teams to score fewer goals in the Premier League were the three that were relegated. Everton scored 42 goals in total, which was not even half the tally of league champions Liverpool.

​Despite a goalless defeat to Leeds on the opening weekend, the Toffees are beginning to look much stronger in attack, and it is largely down to one man. Jack Grealish is already top of the Premier League assists chart and looks electric as he causes havoc for defenders on the left wing and cuts inside to create chances.

​Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is another player who has the vision to pick out a good pass, and he already looks effective in the middle of the pitch. However, Everton have looked heavily reliant on these players up to this point and, if they are sidelined by injuries, the difference will be notable.

​Harrison Armstrong had a good season with Derby County and put in a bright display against Mansfield in the League Cup. The decision was made to loan him to Preston North End on deadline day, a move which could come back to bite David Moyes, as Armstrong looks like a useful asset where attacking moves are concerned.

Reader Comments (10)

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Paul Kernot
1 Posted 13/09/2025 at 01:09:18
This time next year, I expect us to see Harrison Armstrong in the midfield adding to that creativity, plus Röhl in some capacity and Dibling getting regular minutes.

Add to that a young, fast right full-back with Aznou regularly playing left-back. Branthwaite and O'Brien as our new centre-back pairing, and watch us go.

Derek Thomas
2 Posted 13/09/2025 at 07:39:05
Samuel; I presume you mean good, positive things, but with a sample size of 2... the game vs Leeds told us only bad things... it's much too early to say anything yet - especially with Röhl and Dibling yet to kick a ball.

Let's wait and revisit the topic between Christmas and New Year's Eve – a half-term report if you will.

Ian Bennett
3 Posted 13/09/2025 at 08:04:13
There will be a good base of players in 2 years time that should develop under Moyes.

Aznou, O'Brien, Branthwaite, Alcaraz, Barry, Röhl, Garner, Dibling, Ndiaye, are all under 25. All technically good players, with Mykolenko, Beto, Dewsbury-Hall still the right of 30.

Tarkowski will be around for years, as will Pickford. So looking at phasing out Keane, Coleman and Gana in the coming years – with probably new homes for McNeil and Patterson.

With money now available, the quality and competition should only be going one way.

Robert Tressell
4 Posted 13/09/2025 at 08:05:05
Stadium: tick. It's ace.

Pre-season: tick. It doesn't matter.

Beto: the main man, for the time being. Barry is probably expected to take over at some point but that could even be next season. It'll be good to see him start getting more minutes.

Creativity fixed: We're obviously much, much better – but we haven't played a good team yet. There will be games where we huff and puff due to problems which weren't fixed in the summer window. We should comfortably create and score more over the season though – and possibly concede more too (but we're not just reliant on the team defending for results, so that's no bad thing).

Dave Abrahams
5 Posted 13/09/2025 at 08:32:35
Derek (2), Your last paragraph makes complete sense to me.
Tony Abrahams
6 Posted 13/09/2025 at 09:02:59
We beat Brighton, but on another day we could have lost. It was a great day but my own view is that if Pickford, hadn’t saved the penalty, then I personally don’t think we would have held on for the victory, but we did and getting the three points was enormous.

The Wolves game was very good from an attacking point of view but, those defensive frailties were still present.

The more we open up and attack, then the more we are also going to expose ourselves to the fast counter attack, (something Brighter never capitalised on) so finding the right balance has got to be the most important thing, imo now.

Aston Villa, impressed me as much as any team at times last season, and if it wasn’t for PSR, I expected them to really kick on this season, so although it’s still very early days, I expect today’s game, will help us get a much better gauge on our team.

I’m looking forward to going today, but when I start thinking about some of our players, then because they don’t fill me with great confidence, then I’d probably be happy with a point.

Andrew Ellams
7 Posted 13/09/2025 at 09:03:37
I think a few people need to cool their jets a bit. Remember the starts we had under Ancelotti and Benitez?
Liam Mogan
8 Posted 13/09/2025 at 09:24:54
The comments that we were perhaps lucky to have won the last 2 games are apposite.

However, I'm just hoping we are picking up the knack of scoring and winning games when we haven't necessarily played well.

The Devils Rejects in their scruffy lean-to have done this for the best part of 60 years.

Danny O'Neill
9 Posted 13/09/2025 at 09:59:35
Early days. Closer to Christmas better to judge where we are. Let’s just enjoy for now.

Branthwaite is a growing concern and not his ability.

Pat Kelly
10 Posted 14/09/2025 at 10:49:17
Beto's bungling performance yesterday sums up our biggest problem. The lack of a competent striker remains and will limit our progress for yet another season.

Barry is not the answer for now and may never be. We've seen similar with Chermiti.

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