David Moyes has enjoyed a sensational return to life at Goodison Park since he agreed to join Everton for a second spell to replace Sean Dyche in January.
The Scottish manager, who was let go by West Ham United at the end of the 2023/24 campaign, has won four, drawn one, and lost one, of his opening six matches in charge of the Toffees so far.
James Tarkowski’s last-gasp screamer in the 2-2 draw with Liverpool in the last Merseyside derby at Goodison Park earlier this month has, arguably, been the highlight of Moyes’ second tenure to date, and it will be hard to beat.
The former Manchester United boss has racked up 13 points from his first six games and that is significantly better than what Dyche managed when he first arrived at Goodison.
Sean Dyche’s first six matches at Everton |
|
---|---|
Opposition |
Result |
Arsenal (H) |
1-0 win |
Liverpool (A) |
2-0 loss |
Leeds (H) |
1-0 win |
Aston Villa (H) |
2-0 loss |
Arsenal (A) |
4-0 loss |
Nottingham Forest (A) |
2-2 draw |
Via Sofascore |
As you can see in the results above, the former Burnley gaffer only racked up seven points in his first six games in charge of the Toffees, with three losses in those six games.
Another thing that Moyes already has over Dyche is that he has managed to get a tune out of Portuguese centre-forward Beto, who has been on fire in recent weeks.
Everton’s top goalscorers this season
The former Udinese number nine had only scored one goal in 12 appearances in the Premier League under the former Everton manager in the first-half of the season, after a return of just three goals in 30 league outings in the 2023/24 campaign.
However, Beto has propelled himself to being the second-top scorer for Everton in the top-flight this season with an exceptional haul of four goals in his last three outings in the division.
The 27-year-old marksman struck twice in the 4-0 win over Leicester, opened the scoring against Liverpool in the derby, and netted the opener against Crystal Palace in a 2-1 win last time out.
Everton’s top scorers |
|||
---|---|---|---|
24/25 Premier League |
xG |
Goals |
xG differential |
Iliman Ndiaye |
4.22 |
6 |
+1.78 |
Beto |
3.73 |
5 |
+1.27 |
Dominic Calvert-Lewin |
7.51 |
3 |
-4.51 |
Dwight McNeil |
0.98 |
3 |
+2.02 |
Michael Keane |
0.71 |
2 |
+1.29 |
Stats via WhoScored |
As you can see in the table above, his recent burst of goals has taken him up to second in the standings and only behind Ndiaye, who has an impressive return of six goals from 4.22 xG.
Meanwhile, Dominic Calvert-Lewin almost has as much xG as Ndiaye and Beto combined and, yet, has only scored three goals in the Premier League this season.
On the topic of strikers, though, there is a former Everton star – Moise Kean – who is now outscoring all three of the current Toffees forwards combined, almost two years on from when the Club ruthlessly sold him.
Why Everton sold Moise Kean
The Italy international was initially snapped up by Everton from Juventus in the summer of 2019 for a reported fee of £29m, which could have soared to £37m with add-ons, under Marco Silva.
Unfortunately, the young marksman failed to hit the ground running at Goodison Park and only started six of his 29 Premier League appearances during the 2019/20 campaign, scoring two goals and providing two assists in that time.
He was then sent out on loan to Paris Saint-Germain for the 2020/21 and the Italian ace caught the eye with a return of 19 goals in 45 appearances in all competitions.
Kean returned to Everton and played twice under Rafa Benitez at the start of the 2021/22 campaign before being sent to Juventus on a two-season loan deal that summer, with an obligation to make the deal permanent.
His move to the Old Lady on a permanent basis was confirmed in March 2023 for a reported fee of £25m, after he had scored 11 Serie A goals and had been described as “useless” by journalist Tancredi Palmeri after the 2022 Supercoppa Italiana final against Inter.

The Italy international then endured a torrid 2023/24 season with the Serie A giants, as he failed to score in 19 appearances and eight starts, and joined Fiorentina in the summer of 2024.
Moise Kean’s stunning form this season
The 24-year-old star has hit his stride in the Serie A since his move to Florence last year, as he has proven that he does have the ability to find the back of the net on a consistent basis in a major European league.
After a return of just 11 goals in three seasons with Juventus, after initially leaving Everton on loan in 2021, Kean has already scored 15 league goals for Fiorentina in the current campaign.
The right-footed sensation has outscored Calvert-Lewin, Beto, and Ndiaye combined (14) at league level this season with his 15 strikes, and has done so in an efficient manner.
Kean, who has struck 19 times in all competitions, has scored 15 times from 12.77 xG and only missed nine ‘big chances’ in the Serie A so far this term, which shows that he has been ruthless in front of goal for the Italian side.
24/25 Serie A |
Moise Kean (per 90) |
Percentile rank vs forwards |
---|---|---|
Non-penalty goals |
0.65 |
Top 4% |
xG |
0.59 |
Top 12% |
Non-penalty xG |
0.52 |
Top 7% |
Shot on target percentage |
42.9% |
Top 15% |
Non-penalty xG per shot |
0.16 |
Top 14% |
Stats via FBref |
As you can see in the table above, the former Everton flop ranks incredibly highly among forwards in the division in a host of key goalscoring metrics, which illustrates just how well he has performed this season.
The Toffees may, now, regret their decision to completely cut ties with the young centre-forward back in 2021, when they sent him out on loan with an obligation for Juventus to buy him, because he has gone on to develop into a fantastic striker and one who is significantly outperforming all of Moyes’ current options.

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Of course, that is with the benefit of hindsight and Kean did struggle at Juventus in the last three seasons before his move to Fiorentina, so there is no guarantee that he would have found his best form if he remained at Goodison Park.
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