Moyes Urges Everton To Push On After Reaching 40-point Mark

Everton reach the 40-point mark with 10 matches still to play and now turn focus to Europe, as the home meeting with Burnley on Tuesday offers a chance to strengthen a top-seven push, with Opta rating the Toffees strong favourites despite recent problems at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Burnley arrive under pressure near the bottom, eight points from safety, yet recent away comebacks suggest Scott Parker’s team can still challenge opponents. The visitors push to extend their survival fight, while Everton seek to end a poor home run and convert strong away form into consistency in front of their own fans.

Everton sit eighth with 40 points from 28 Premier League fixtures, boosted by Saturday’s 3-2 win at Newcastle United, when Thierno Barry struck an 83rd-minute winner and Jordan Pickford produced a key stoppage-time save from Sandro Tonali, and Opta’s supercomputer makes Everton clear favourites for the Burnley clash.

The Opta model points firmly towards a home success, despite Everton’s difficulties at Hill Dickinson Stadium. The numbers still underline Burnley’s underdog status and show a draw as the least likely of the three outcomes, matching the league positions and recent results of both teams ahead of Tuesday’s meeting.

David Moyes views the early arrival at 40 points as a platform rather than an endpoint, explaining the mixed feeling after several difficult seasons and speaking openly about trying to lift Everton beyond modest recent league finishes while still acknowledging the traditional safety benchmark that managers always keep in mind.

"We take quite a lot of satisfaction. We have got there with 10 games to go," Moyes said of reaching 40 points early, after a difficult few years for the club. "I have always been looking beyond 40 points, but there is always something in the back of your mind.

"Our recent history has not been much better than reaching that total. I've talked about us doing more than that and hopefully we can."

Everton’s relocation continues to shape results, with Moyes stressing that adapting to Hill Dickinson Stadium was never likely to be smooth. The team have picked up 24 points away this season, yet home form lags behind, underlining the challenge of turning the new ground into a reliable advantage.

Everton are winless in six Premier League home fixtures, drawing two and losing four, and last endured a longer barren home league stretch in October 1998, when they went nine matches without a victory. They have lost their previous two home league games and seek to avoid a third straight defeat.

The Toffees have not suffered three consecutive home league losses since a sequence of four defeats at Goodison Park in 2023, emphasising the importance of Tuesday’s game. Moyes accepts that stronger away results may continue while the club settles into Hill Dickinson Stadium and works to build a consistent atmosphere.

"If we have to take all the points away from home and don't do so well as home..."

Moyes notes that other clubs have also struggled after stadium moves, saying that early seasons often bring uneven results. "If you go through the history books and look at the teams who have moved to new stadiums, it's never been that easy, certainly in the first year."

Everton vs Burnley form trends and promoted-side challenge

Despite strong odds from Opta, Everton have found matches against newly promoted teams difficult this season. They have failed to win any of their four Premier League games against such opponents, drawing three and losing one, which adds an extra layer of risk before facing Scott Parker’s Burnley side.

Only once in Moyes’ tenure at Everton has there been a longer winless spell against promoted clubs in the Premier League. That run stretched to five matches without a victory between March and November 2010, and Everton will be eager to avoid repeating that pattern in front of their own crowd.

Burnley’s away record shows resilience, which could trouble Everton. Parker’s team have come from behind to avoid defeat in three of their last four Premier League away fixtures, winning one, drawing two and losing one, and those recoveries underline why opponents cannot relax even with a lead against the Clarets.

Historically, Burnley have rarely claimed so many points from losing away positions in a Premier League season. They have six such points in 2025-26, second only to 2018-19, when they collected seven. Their ability to respond once behind may matter again, given Everton’s habit of allowing promoted opponents back into games.

Everton vs Burnley survival fight and Parker’s belief

Burnley’s latest setback came in dramatic fashion against Brentford at Turf Moor, where Parker’s players battled back from 3-0 down to reach 3-3, only to see a potential fourth goal from Zian Flemming ruled out before Mikkel Damsgaard struck a stoppage-time winner that kept Burnley eight points from safety.

Asked if he still believed Burnley could avoid relegation, Parker pointed to long-term growth rather than just results. "There has always been belief. This is a young group and at times they are learning, you are seeing that shine through. Whether that is enough to bring success this year...

"... you are at least seeing things being engraved in this team that are paramount to being successful."

Burnley’s scoring pattern underlines that spirit. They have recorded more goals while behind than any other Premier League side this season, with 21 goals scored when losing. That habit illustrates persistence, but also highlights how often Burnley fall behind, which explains their current league position and the scale of the escape task.

Everton vs Burnley players to watch and key numbers

Thierno Barry heads into the Burnley match in strong form for Everton. After failing to score in his first 14 Premier League appearances for the club, Barry has now hit six goals in his last 14 league matches, and the late winner at Newcastle United was his first strike as a substitute.

Barry’s impact off the bench at St James’ Park could help him secure a starting role against Burnley, particularly as Everton search for sharper attacking performances at Hill Dickinson Stadium. The forward’s recent goal return offers Moyes an in-form option as the team look to convert pressure into home points.

Zian Flemming provides Burnley’s main away threat. Flemming has scored six of Burnley’s 17 Premier League goals on the road this season, giving the midfielder a central role in Parker’s attacking plans away from Turf Moor and placing Flemming close to a club milestone for goals in one away campaign.

Only Chris Wood, with seven away goals in 2020-21, has registered more in a single Premier League season for Burnley than Flemming’s current total. With Burnley relying heavily on counters and set pieces on their travels, Flemming’s finishing could decide whether Parker’s team can unsettle Everton’s defence again.

Overall, Everton are strongly favoured to win yet still carry questions over home form and results against promoted opponents, while Burnley combine late goals and persistence with a large gap to safety, leaving Tuesday’s match likely to influence European qualification hopes and survival chances without changing the broader statistical outlook.