We’ve barely seen Thierno Barry and Beto on the pitch together for Everton, but the Arsenal game might just be the perfect opportunity for David Moyes to start both for the first time.
Everton are gearing up for their next game against the Gunners on Saturday.
Mikel Arteta’s side lead the way in the Premier League and are looking to take another big step towards the Premier League title.
How many goals should Thierno Barry target this season? 🤩
He's entering the Chelsea game HUNGRY for more!
Thierno Barry on how it felt to score his first Everton goal.
Credit: Getty Images/Chris Brunskill/Fantasista.
But Everton have their own aspirations, which are to bring European football to the Hill Dickinson Stadium for next season.
More likely than not, Saturday’s clash will not be easy on the eye.
And arguably, Moyes has to consider finally going with two up top.
A Thierno Barry and Beto partnership could cause issues for Arsenal
What is very apparent these days about Arsenal is that they are a big side who are very dangerous from set-pieces.
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Their corners are especially troublesome, and have resulted in many goals already so far this season.
They have a lot of players who are six foot or over, including William Saliba, Gabriel, Piero Hincapie, Riccardo Calafiori, Ben White, Declan Rice, Mikel Merino, Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres.
So that’s a lot of height to be dealing with.
Luckily, Everton also have several giants in their squad.
But quite possibly, it might make sense to have Barry and Beto both starting this game, as they can both lend a hand on defending set-pieces.
Beto replaces Thierno Barry for Everton.
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Then at the other end, it would be good to have two physical presences, because Saliba and Gabriel are undoubtedly both formidable defenders.
So it’s going to be about trying to unsettle them.
It just feels a bit like playing one of Barry or Beto wouldn’t be enough against that pairing.
However if they were played as a partnership, which has not yet been trialled by Moyes – at least from the start of a game – then this could give them a bit more to think about.
It would mean dropping a winger or a midfielder, but it is surely something for Moyes to stew on.
What David Moyes has said about playing Barry and Beto together
On the idea of them playing together, Moyes said of Barry and Beto earlier this month: “Possibly, at times.
“I think there’s other factors that lead into that. As you know, other people have to come out of the side and you’re looking at other players if you do that as well.
“It’s probably been out of fashion, two strikers, now for I don’t know, about 20 years?
Barry in 2025/26 Beto in 2025/26
Appearances – 32 Appearances – 32
Minutes played – 1766 Minutes played – 1249
Goals – 6 Goals – 5
Assists – 0 Assists – 0
“Lots of things have come back in. Long throws have come back in fashion. Lots of set-piece goals are coming back in fashion. So who knows, two centre forwards might be the future. Will we do it? We may well do it when we need to but I don’t think it’s something I’d be doing all the time that’s for sure.”
So we know this is something that’s in the manager’s thinking.
It’s just a question of when, and this really does feel like an opportune moment.
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