Everton

It was a bleak start to life in the Premier League and English football for Thierno Barry last season - 41 games, six goals.

However, eight games into Everton's 2026-27 campaign and the Toffees forward already has six goals to his name.

Speaking to BBC Newsbeat about why he chose to post a video last month, external of him breaking down during a private training session, Barry said: "People can say I miss a lot of chances, but I also create a lot of chances.

"Every fan counts on you to score goals, so imagine you didn't score for three months like me [last season] - it's difficult."

Everton fan Natalie Bargery told BBC Radio Merseyside: "It all stems from desperately wanting to do well. He does beat himself up, and we all saw the video he posted on Instagram with his coach.

"I think he has got a good mentality in that he is desperate to do well."

Barry has let fans see behind the scenes where he has documented solo training sessions and opened up about the pressure he feels being a Premier League player on his social media accounts.

"This season is more easy to switch because I know I have time on the pitch," said the Frenchman. "I think when I miss that chance, seven minutes later, I'll have another opportunity to score. That's a real pressure.

"When I come to the ball, in my head, it's like time stops."

David Moyes' main centre-forward overcame a four-game dry spell to score two goals in consecutive Premier League matches.

"The people around me helped a lot because, like I said, I'm really hard with myself and the people with me try to help me to be more positive," added Barry.

Read more about Barry's journey here and hit play above to hear more from Bargery and The Paddock Blues podcast's Paul Brown, or listen on BBC Sounds here

On the latest Toffees Unwrapped podcast, BBC Radio Merseyside's Philip Munns is sticking with his bold pre-season prediction that Thierno Barry will score 20 goals in all competitions throughout the 2026-27 season.

Munns said: "He's underperforming his xG. He's now up to 10 big chances missed in the Premier League this season.

"When you look at those sorts of stats, on the face of it, you're thinking: 'Well, that doesn't sound good.'

"But with eight games down in the season, and many more to follow, the Everton forward has scored six goals.

"Looking at the table [missed chances] for last year, you had most big chances missed - Erling Haaland.

"Second most, you had Igor Thiago. They were the two top scorers in the Premier League.

"So, I just think that that's got to be a good sign. Room for improvement? Absolutely, definitely.

"If he learns to head the ball down, he also scores a few more."

Listen to the clip above by pressing play or find the full episode of Toffees Unwrapped below or on BBC Sounds here

Everton, Manchester United and Tottenham are keeping tabs on 24-year-old Dinamo Zagreband Croatia striker Dion Beljo, who is 6ft 5in. (Teamtalk), external

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Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Imagine a world where Manchester City had not used "sham contracts" to build a team capable of winning three Premier League titles, one FA Cup and three EFL Cups.

If City were the winners, then there had to be losers - and not just those teams who finished runners-up or lost cup finals.

The potential impact runs much deeper and includes missed Champions League qualification, relegation and Premier League prize money.

Everton missed out on the Champions League once, in 2013-14, and on four other occasions they finished one place below the final Europa League spot.

The Champions League place is calculated to be worth £32.6m - the £39m earned by Manchester City minus the Toffees' £6.4m winnings from the Europa League they competed in instead.

The combined impact of missing out on the Europa League four times is £23.2m.

Add on the £10.6m from Premier League prize money, and the total financial effect is £66.4m - making Everton the third-most-impacted club.

Learn more about how the numbers were calculated here

BBC Radio Merseyside's Phil Munns and Giulia Bould discussed why Brennan Johnson's goal in the first half against Hull City was ruled out for offside on the latest Toffees Unwrapped podcast.

David Moyes' side thought they had taken the lead when the Wales international pounced in the box to tap home but referee Michael Salisbury was sent to the pitchside monitor by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to assess whether Johnson was initially offside.

The attacker was clearly in an offside position but there has been some debate over whether the Hull defender deliberately played the ball last, which would lead to Johnson's offside position being irrelevant.

"Let's go to the rulebook," Munns said. "I agree with what has been said. Looking at the incident, he challenges for the ball, he's in an offside position when the shot comes in. I think he should be offside. Then I came and thought, 'I'll read the rulebook and I'll see what it says here'.

"The rulebook says a player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent who deliberately played the ball, including by deliberate handball, is not considered to have gained an advantage unless it was a deliberate save by an opponent.

"Deliberate play - just to break that down for you - is when a player passes the ball to a team-mate, gains possession of the ball or clears the ball by kicking or heading it. So if the pass or the attempt to gain possession or clearance by the player in control of the ball is inaccurate or unsuccessful, this does not negate the fact the player deliberately played the ball.

"If you listen to that definition word for word, by the time the Hull defender has gained possession of the ball onto Brennan Johnson, the fact he was offside in the first place - according to the wording of this rule - means that doesn't matter. It shouldn't have been offside and it should've been allowed."

Bould responded: "It's a new phase of play, isn't it? The defender has touched it and then Brennan Johnson has scored, so it's a new phase."

BBC Sport's football issues correspondent clarified the decision, saying: "As soon as Brennan Johnson was shown to be in an offside position, there was no realistic outcome other than a disallowed goal.

"[Nobel] Mendy's block is not classed as a deliberate play in the laws. It is like a goalkeeper making a save. That means the offside phase remains active from Harrison Armstrong's shot.

"If Mendy had made a poor clearance, that would have reset offside and the goal may have counted.

"But the offside phase did remain active. So when Johnson challenges [Ryan] Giles, that has to be an offside offence"

Listen to the clip above by pressing play or find the full episode of Toffees Unwrapped below or on BBC Sounds here

We asked for your thoughts after Everton's 2-2 draw at Hull City in the Premier League on Sunday.

Here are some of your comments:

Jeff: Disappointed not to get all three points. If you want to show ambition you will have to beat teams like Hull. We did not. And the painful truth showed itself again in that we are lacking a real right-back and a Premier League striker. Ainsley Maitland-Niles gifted Hull two goals and Thierno Barry should have scored at least two more goals.

Magnus: I guess I should be happy with fifth place, the unbeaten streak and being above Liverpool this far into the season. But if we are to climb the ladder and lift trophies, we need to be winning. Still cautiously optimistic, but too many draws will turn into frustration - especially in matches we should have won.

Alex: This was a game of chances in which Barry had enough laid on a plate for him to score and he missed. A top level, Premier League quality forward would have won the game for us. It's points dropped. We will rue the fact that we simply do not have a striker good enough to win us games.

Dusty: I think we edged it enough to deserve a win, but Hull were up for the fight. There's still creases to iron out on-field, but it's another point and we are still unbeaten. Compared with recent seasons, we are hard to beat and we worry teams these days.

Thomas: Given that both of their goals came from abysmal defending, I'm counting that as two points dropped. Some baffling personnel decisions from David Moyes as per usual. Still unbeaten, yes, but we need to start converting these draws into wins.

Darryl: He's had a decent start to his Everton career but that game has me wondering if Maitland-Niles will be a weak link in the team this season. Merlin Rohl to start when he's back?

Everton defender James Tarkowski says they "gifted" Hull City two goals on Sunday, which has been a common occurrence for the Toffees this campaign.

David Moyes' side came from behind to take the lead, before being forced to settle for a point after the Tigers equalised in the 74th minute.

"Their first goal kicked us into gear because I thought we started slow in the second half," Tarkowski told BBC Radio Merseyside. "We had some good chances and probably should have scored three goals.

"In open play we were pretty comfortable for most of the game. We gifted them two goals with two poor mistakes, but that can happen.

"As disappointed as I am, it's still a point on the board so we just need to move on and regroup for the next one.

"Defensively, we have been really solid this year so far so I'm not going to question our defence. There's been more mistakes than being cut wide open. As a team, there's been sloppy moments and we've been punished."

Meanwhile, Total Sport summariser Ronny Goodlass described Sunday's result as "two points dropped" after Everton had shown "character" to get back into the game.

Hear more from Goodlass by pressing the play icon below, or listen on BBC Sounds here

Everton hold the strongest interest in Rennes striker Esteban Lepaul, although Aston Villa, Brentford, Brighton and Leeds United have the 26-year-old France international on their radar. (Teamtalk, external)

Celtic will be keeping an eye on David Moyes as a possible successor to Martin O'Neill next season, with his Everton contract expiring in the summer and the club's owners looking to sell up. (Alan Nixon on Patreon - subscription required, external)

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Everton manager David Moyes to BBC Match of the Day: "I'm really frustrated with the levels generally. Our level was way below where we've been recently. Disappointed that when we went 2-1 up I didn't think there'd be any way we would go on to not to win the game. But a couple of defensive mistakes didn't help and we also missed quite a lot of chances ourselves which would've made it easier."

On Brennan Johnson's disallowed goal: "Look I think we have a shot and he could be offside with the shot that is blocked and he scored the rebound. I accept that well enough. But I just don't know if the goalkeeper's heel is playing him on. I hope they've put the lines on and done it correctly.

"We were annoyed with the players at half-time with the way they had played in the first half, so we were expecting a good start. But we get beaten and miskick the ball and they get into score. It meant we had to find a way to get back which we did do, deservedly so.

"But in the end, coming away with a point from here you shouldn't be too disappointed when you look at the results they got against Manchester United and Aston Villa here. They've got something going.

"But I thought when we went 2-1 up there wouldn't be any winners but us."

Hear more from Moyes on BBC Sounds

Did you know?

• Harrison Armstrong became just the fourth teenager to start each of Everton's first six games of a Premier League season, after Michael Ball (1998-99), Francis Jeffers (2000-01), and Ross Barkley (2013-14).

Image source, Getty Images

Everton are in good form and have now avoided defeat in their opening six league matches for the first time since 2013-14. In that season, they finished fifth under Roberto Martinez.

A point at Hull puts The Toffees in fifth and only outside of a Champions League spot on goal difference.

Everton were narrowly the better side and created several good opportunities. They thought they had scored in the first half only for Brennan Johnson's effort to be ruled out, with the Wales forward offside when steering the ball in after Harrison Armstrong's shot had been cleared off the line.

Thierno Barry also had several chances before his eventual goal, having a close-range header saved and failing to connect to a pass across goal when three yards out and the scores level at 1-1.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Hull City's performance

What did you make of Everton's display?

Reaction and analysis to follow - and come back on Monday for a selection of your replies.

There are three games in the Premier League on Sunday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Crystal Palace v Nottingham Forest - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Hull City v Everton - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Liverpool v Manchester City (16:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-off times 14:00 BST unless stated.

Follow all of the action and reaction to the two 14:00 games here

And go here for Liverpool v Man City

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You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on your smart speaker. Just say "Alexa, ask BBC Sounds to play Liverpool v Manchester City" or "Alexa, ask BBC Sounds to play the Everton match", for example.

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Simply follow your favourite football teams on the BBC Sport app for updates throughout the 2026-27 season.

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Hull City's unbeaten start ended at Newcastle United last time out, but even then they almost snatched a point after going 2-0 down early on.

The Tigers deserved something from the game for the way they finished it - I had gone for them to get a draw with my prediction and I should have been right.

This game smells of a really obvious 1-1 draw to me too.

A win would be massive for Hull's confidence, as well as their hopes of staying up, but Everton already look like they are just going to grind through the season and I don't see them losing this.

Sutton's prediction: 1-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Matt Jones
BBC Sport journalist

After their first setback of the season before the international break, Hull City will be hoping to get on track again when they welcome an unbeaten Everton team to the MKM Stadium on Sunday (14:00 BST).

The Tigers were unable to recover from two early Newcastle United goals last time out, eventually losing 2-1 at St James' Park in what was their first league loss of the campaign. But they go into the weekend in eighth and with a solid foundation in place to keep clear of relegation trouble.

Everton sit a place above Hull in seventh. David Moyes and his players have had a lot of noise to deal with off the pitch - it was confirmed on Friday that the club is up for sale - but on he field they've performed well, winning four and drawing three matches in all competitions so far.

Tigers tamed by Toon - what next?

Keep it tight and play on the counter-attack. Hull's plan has been clear since their return to the top flight. Unfortunately for head coach Sergej Jakirovic, the blueprint is not compatible with being two goals down after seven minutes, as they were at Newcastle.

They did at least respond well and gave themselves a chance thanks to Mohamed-Ali Cho's second-half goal. But it was too much of a deficit for the Tigers to tackle.

In terms of approach, it would be a surprise if too much changed against Everton, with Hull's plan serving them well through the first four games. Jakirovic's side won't be desperate to get on the ball, that's for sure.

So far this season, they rank 20th among Premier League teams for successful passes – Hull's total of 1,017 is 305 lower than Coventry City's 1,322, in 19th – and average possession, with 32.3%. Everton, their opponents this weekend, rank 17th in the latter category with 43.6%.

They have also only completed 22 sequences of 10 or more passes, which is a league low. Their rate of 0.4 build-up attacks per 90 is also the lowest by a Premier League team in any season since 2018-19 (Cardiff City's 0.37 per game).

Toffees find purpose after turbulent summer

Although some sales late in the transfer window left Everton without any depth in key positions, a number of different players have been able to step up and shine.

Young midfielder Harrison Armstrong leads the Premier League for distance covered so far with 60.4km, while the return to fitness of Jarrad Branthwaite – he leads the league for blocks with 11 – has been key to Everton having the joint-best defensive record in the division going into the weekend.

Branthwaite's presence also brings out the best in Blues captain James Tarkowski, who has started this campaign well after a tough end to 2025-26.

The veteran centre-back has the best success rate of any player to contest 15 or more duels in the Premier League this season, with 83%. He is also the only defender to make 10 or more tackles and 10 or more interceptions, with 11 and 14 respectively. Tarkowski also has a goal and an assist for good measure.

Most crucially, though, when Branthwaite and Tarkowski have been on the field together for the Toffees, improved results have followed.

Giulia Bould
BBC Radio Merseyside reporter

Image source, Getty Images

The Friedkin Group was hailed as saving Everton when it took over in December 2024.

It had bought a broken club used to financial chaos, points deductions and relegation battles. It brought back David Moyes and oversaw the move to Hill Dickinson Stadium.

However, less than two years on, it looks like the American group saw it as a way to boost its finances rather than an opportunity to return Everton to their former glory.

Fans suspected for a while that Roma was the 'favourite child' and it looks today like those suspicions were right.

Now a for sale sign is back up, even those inside the club were surprised at the timing of the statement released on Friday. This is the first time it was made clear to the Toffees hierarchy that The Friedkin Group was ready to leave.

While it feels uncertain, it serves no-one to drag this sale out and the aim will be to sell by the end of the season.

What is needed now is due diligence to ensure Everton can be sold to someone who cares and really wants to wake up the sleeping giant.

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