**Everton’s unbeaten run continued in a goalless draw with Aston Villa.**
Despite dominating chances for large parts of Saturday’s Premier League encounter, David Moyes’ side were unable to engineer a breakthrough.
The Blues sit sixth in the table after putting together three games without defeat from their opening four top-flight fixtures to date this season.
_Here were the key talking points from Hill Dickinson Stadium:_
Frustration marks Moyes’ progress
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Aston Villa’s previous trip to Merseyside saw them facing a different Everton.
January’s most recent instalment of the most played fixture in English top-flight history saw the visitors sign off from Goodison Park with narrow victory.
The second coming of David Moyes failed to inspire the Blues that night as they spurned a host of a chances at the outset of their relegation fightback.
Profligacy continued to stalk them in the Villans’ maiden visit to Hill Dickinson Stadium but there is a noticeable contrast to the meeting eight months prior.
For one, Unai Emery’s side are now the team feeling the heat as they remain the only team in the top seven divisions yet to score a goal in this campaign.
Moreover, Everton were not snatching at chances throughout this encounter; they dominated both goal scoring opportunities and possession at will.
Had they been more proficient in the final third, Jack Grealish would have found himself adding to the four assists from his previous two starts.
That Moyes’ men found themselves frustrated by Saturday’s stalemate is a clear indicator of the progress they have made in such a short space of time.
Time for changing of the guard?
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Everton’s shortcomings in front of goal, however, do hint at a wider issue.
Beto assumed both the club’s legendary no.9 shirt and the responsibility of leading the line in the wake of Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s summer departure.
In truth, the Guinea-Bissau international had claimed the latter mantle long before his former sparring partner began shuffling towards the exit door.
He hit double figures in all competitions last term and had already racked up two in three at the start of this term prior to taking on a struggling Villa.
Yet building on that tally proved to be beyond Beto as he wasted the three clear-cut openings provided by Grealish, Iliman Ndiaye and James Garner.
Arguably he could not have asked for an easier one than Ndiaye’s third minute lay-off which was sliced wide with the North Stand goal at his mercy.
That much-maligned defender Michael Keane appeared more likely to find the net from his own handful of opportunities did little to help Beto’s case.
It might be time for Moyes to consider entrusting Thierno Barry to spearhead his side’s attack from the off to allow the 27-year-old a chance to regroup.
Blues must use derby week wisely
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The countdown is officially underway to the 247th Merseyside derby.
In six days’ time, Everton will make a slightly unfamiliar trek from the banks of the River Mersey to Anfield after 133 years of merely crossing Stanley Park.
That trip to their one-time domicile will act as a bellwether for the strength of the current royal blue revival against a Liverpool team in formidable fettle.
Moyes admitted ahead of April’s meeting that the gap between the city’s two clubs was as big as it had ever been – a fact [bore out by the eventual result](https://www.clickliverpool.com/sport/liverpool-fc/57395-liverpool-1-0-everton-three-talking-points-diogo-jota-james-tarkowski-luis-diaz/).
On paper, little appears to have changed with Arne Slot’s side continuing to strengthen seemingly with no expense spared during the summer window.
But unlike the reigning Premier League champions, his side have no midweek commitments which affords them a rare, disruption-free run for preparations.
It’s a small advantage but one Everton must use productively if they are to stand any chance of ending a four-year wait to win behind enemy lines.