Christopher Beesley, Liverpool Echo: Everton have reclaimed their identity under Moyes | OneFootball

Christopher Beesley, Everton reporter for the Liverpool Echo, believes the Toffees have reclaimed their identity under manager David Moyes.

Moyes returned to Everton in January 2025, 11-and-a-half years after leaving to join Manchester United, and has overseen a significant upturn in performances and results.

Brentford travel to Hill Dickinson Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday, live on Sky Sports (3pm kick-off GMT).

Everton are eighth in the Premier League table. How would you summarise how things have gone for the Toffees so far?

Everton went into Christmas Day in the top half of the Premier League table for the first time since 2020 or, given that was the season mostly behind closed doors, the first time since 2017 in front of crowds, so that is a considerable improvement on the turbulence on and off the pitch in recent years.

That run included a couple of standout results in back-to-back away games. After overcoming Idrissa Gueye’s bizarre sending off for slapping team-mate Michael Keane just 13 minutes into the contest, the Blues became the first team ever to triumph over Manchester United in a Premier League match at Old Trafford after being reduced to 10 men, and they followed that up with a first Premier League win at Bournemouth, a decade on from their first visit.

It is coming up to a year now since David Moyes re-joined the club. After some tough seasons before that, is it fair to say the whole atmosphere around the place and outlook has changed in that time?

Yes, it most certainly has. Everton has reclaimed its identity in many ways under the stewardship of the man who, when first appointed in 2002, dubbed them ‘The People’s Club’.

Back then, David Moyes, at 38, was the Premier League’s youngest manager but now, at 62, he is the division’s elder statesman.

The Glaswegian knows what the Blues supporters want from their team and, after nine top-eight finishes in his first spell - including a best-ever Premier League finish of fourth in 2004/05 – he has returned older and wiser from his vast experience in the game.

It is a pivotal moment in the club’s history as they moved from Goodison Park to Hill Dickinson Stadium, for what is hoped will be a bright new dawn after a period of great strife.

The January transfer window is now open. What do you think Everton need to do in the market to set themselves up for a strong second half of the season, if anything?

Everton still have not found a long-term successor to their best right-back of modern times and player who has turned out more times for them in the Premier League than any other, club captain Seamus Coleman, who is now 37.

They missed out on Kenny Tete in the summer when he changed his mind and signed a new contract at Fulham.

At the time of writing, both strikers Thierno Barry and Beto have just one goal apiece, so additional firepower would be welcome. Top frontmen becoming available in January are rare, and while they have been linked with former Brentford man Ivan Toney, it seems a difficult proposition to get him out of Saudi Arabia at this time.

Which player should Brentford fans be keeping an eye out for on Sunday?

He is injured at the moment, so I do not know if he will be back fit in time for this game, but following his £25 million transfer from Chelsea in August, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was in the form of his life before he was forced off just minutes into his Stamford Bridge return.

Deployed mostly as a no.10 so far on Merseyside, he really stepped things up from November onwards and was often deployed deeper as the box-to-box no.8 that he says comes most natural to him.

What should Keith Andrews’ side expect from Everton in terms of shape and style?

David Moyes rarely deviates from his usual 4-2-3-1 formation.

Everton are not as direct as they have been in recent years, though, with Jack Grealish now in the side, though Iliman Ndiaye – who is currently away with Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations - is a big miss.

In the last six meetings, there have been three draws and three Everton wins. What’s your score prediction for this one?

Hopefully, in what is the first of a hat-trick of home games in a week to kick-off 2026, Everton can pick up another positive result with a crowd of over 50,000 cheering them on at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

The goalless draw at Goodison Park last season against a Brentford side reduced to 10 men was very frustrating and the encounters tend to be closely fought affairs, so I will go for the Blues to edge it, 1-0.