Everton FC correspondent Joe Thomas reports on one of the main topics of focus at Finch Farm ahead of the derby
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Jordan Pickford shakes hands with the match officials whilst David Moyes reacts after the Premier League match between Liverpool and Everton at Anfield on September 20, 2025. Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
Jordan Pickford shakes hands with the match officials whilst David Moyes reacts after the Premier League match between Liverpool and Everton at Anfield on September 20, 2025. Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
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David Moyes’ disappointment was clear at Anfield.
The final whistle was met with joy from the home end but also - notably - with a heavy dose of relief. Everton spent the final half hour searching for a goal that would have sealed an unlikely comeback but which, given the momentum they built after Idrissa Gueye slotted in from Iliman Ndiaye’s knock down, felt distinctly possible.
In the end it did not come. The reality was a transformed Everton, playing with new-found vibrance and confidence after the summer additions of Jack Grealish and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, had blown a glorious opportunity for a rare positive result at the home of their fiercest rivals.
And the diagnosis was clear - Moyes had spent days imploring the need for a positive start against a team still winning games but relying on feats of endurance and last-gasp goals to cover a fragility that has since been exposed in the Premier League and in Europe. On the day, the away side just did not turn up for the opening half an hour and it cost them dearly as Liverpool pulled into a two goal lead they would not relinquish.
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The game was an inflection point in Everton’s season. They have not always got the goals their play deserved but the Blues have typically started games quickly. In the month that followed they scored early against West Ham and missed glorious chances against Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.
A feature of recent weeks has been the never say die attitude that has secured late draws at Brighton and Brentford and big wins at Newcastle United and Fulham. But the team has tried hard to start well.
Ahead of the first derby at Hill Dickinson Stadium, Moyes accepted the poor start had been fatal to their chances. He said: “You're absolutely right, the game was over probably at Anfield, probably after about 20 minutes or so. I think the second goal might have been a bit later than that, but it made the game really difficult for us. So it's something which in the main we've been pretty good at. We've not been outstanding, we're not scoring all the time, but we're also not conceding. I agree with you that we didn't start the game well at Anfield."
As a result, the message this week has been clear - don’t make the same mistake against a team that, like back in September, will enter the derby off the back of a gruelling midweek Champions League tie.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall confirmed as much this week, explaining: “He reminded us: ‘Look remember what happened at Anfield in those first 30 minutes – it wasn’t our level.’ That was in an earlier part of the season and there is no way we are going to be starting a game like that again.”
Everton have matured since those early weeks of the season. Crucially, they have secured the big results that enable them to go into a game like this one with belief - away at the likes of Aston Villa and Manchester United and, most recently, at home to Chelsea.
Like with Chelsea, the players will have no shortage of inspiration from the stands, with the 1878s planning a coach welcome followed by a stunning South Stand tifo - the stage will be set, it will be up for Moyes and co to deliver.