Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith believes David Moyes deserves "lots of credit" for turning Everton into "a tough nut to crack" after the club's unbeaten start to the 2026/27 season.
Everton have gone into the first international break of the new campaign without defeat in seven matches in all competitions. That run includes three consecutive Premier League draws against Bournemouth (1-1), Manchester United (2-2) and Tottenham Hotspur (0-0), book-ended by home wins over Crystal Palace (2-0) on the opening day and a 1-0 victory against Ipswich Town.
Carabao Cup progress and transfer window turmoil
In between those league fixtures, Moyes' side also advanced through two rounds of the Carabao Cup, beating Championship pair Preston North End 4-0 away and Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
The strong start came despite a chaotic transfer deadline day that saw Iliman Ndiaye, Beto, Tim Iroegbunam and Nathan Patterson all sold for more than £100m, with only Ainsley Maitland-Niles, a £4m arrival from Lyon, and Jack Grealish, on a season-long loan from Manchester City, coming in. A proposed big-money deal for USA World Cup star Folarin Balogun from Monaco collapsed on the final day of the window, leaving Moyes with just one recognised centre-forward, one right-back and one left-back in a senior squad of 18 players.
Chief executive Angus Kinnear had predicted before the season that "we will spend more than most of our competitors, the owners are very keen to back us," but Everton ended the window 15th among Premier League clubs for net spend and were one of only half a dozen teams to make a trading profit.
Smith praises defensive foundation
Speaking via BestBettingSites.co.uk, Smith told the ECHO: "David Moyes deserves lots of credit. I think everybody was wondering how things were going to pan out there, and I'm sure David Moyes was, but he's made them hard to beat."
"They've got a brilliant platform of James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite in central defence. We saw that at Spurs and against Ipswich Town as they kept another clean sheet. So, they're a tough nut to crack, which they need to be, because I don't think they've got loads of goals in them. But it's the start that they needed, I think."
Smith added: "It will still be a bit of a grind for David Moyes with that squad. But yeah, a great start from them."
Next test at Hull City
Everton return to action on Sunday, October 11, when they travel to newly promoted Hull City, who sit one place and one point below the Blues in the Premier League table after their own impressive start to the campaign.
