Everton must end the year strongly to ensure the fans ‘keep believing’

After entering the 2025/26 season with renewed hope under their new owners, Everton have not quite lived up to expectations during the early part of the season.

The Toffees are 13th in the standings with 15 points after 11 games. They are just four points adrift of the top four, but only five points above the relegation zone.

Reputable sports betting site Betway rates Everton as 2/1 shots to finish in the top 10, but their fans will be eager for the club to aim even higher.

David Moyes’ side have eight fixtures remaining before the end of the year, five of which are against teams currently above them in the table.

• Manchester United (A) – November 24
• Newcastle United (H) – November 29
• Bournemouth (A) – December 2
• Nottingham Forest (H) – December 6
• Chelsea (A) – December 13
• Arsenal (H) – December 20
• Burnley (A) – December 27
• Nottingham Forest (A) – December 30

Moyes has been keen to temper expectations at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, which is not unusual for a manager who is renowned for his pragmatic nature.

He urged supporters to ‘keep believing’ in what Everton are striving to achieve after the 2-0 home victory over Fulham before the international break.

“I thought we played well for longer periods than previous matches,” Moyes said. “They still had a period, midway through the second half but I thought we played well.

“We’ve not been maybe getting the goals to go with it. We’ve wanted to try to become a much better footballing team and the players we’ve brought in have helped us to do that.

“We don’t want to lose what we’ve had – desire, heart, commitment – but I think we had to try to find a way of getting a little bit better at certain things and I think we have to build.

“I trust the owners will help us in all the windows as we go forward and we’ll try to make things better as we go along. We need to get people believing in Everton like we do, like the supporters here do, and what we want us to be in the future.

“To do that we need to keep picking up the wins and attracting top players like Kiernan (Dewsbury-Hall) and Jack Grealish and players of that ilk. We need to keep attracting that level of players to come to the club.”

While Moyes is understandably keen to take a long-term view, his team must use their upcoming fixtures to build some momentum.

While the fixtures against Manchester United and Newcastle United are potential banana skins, Everton are capable of competing with both teams.

They kick off their December schedule against Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest, before tackling title hopefuls Chelsea and Arsenal. The Toffees end the year with fixtures against Burnley and Forest.

While it would be unrealistic to expect Everton to emerge unscathed from that run of games, ending the year inside the top ten is a realistic aim.

That would give the club a solid foundation to work from for the rest of the season and boost their chances of attracting quality players in the winter transfer window.

Everton have been linked with Ivan Toney and Joshua Zirkzee, and both players could be useful acquisitions if they can be persuaded to join the club.

A tally of 12 goals in 11 league outings highlights their deficiencies and improving Moyes’ forward options is crucial if the club is to achieve its aims.

In the short-term, a productive run of results to end the year would ensure the fans ‘keep believing’ the club is on course for a brighter future.