No shock revelation for Moyes as Everton fail to score again

The league table told the story before he arrived but after his first match back in charge of Everton on Wednesday David Moyes was even more clear that the team's underlying problem is a failure to score, or even really look like scoring.

The 1-0 home Premier League defeat by Aston Villa meant that Everton have failed to score in nine of their last 12 league matches - winning one of them - and their paltry total of 15 goals in 20 games this season is the second-worst after bottom club Southampton's 12.

"I didn't think we played that well, we offered a little bit more in the second half but ultimately couldn't quite score a goal that was required," Moyes said after Ollie Watkins's 51st-minute goal settled his first game since replacing Sean Dyche last week.

"We're lacking people to score, we're lacking creating those chances. We probably had two or three good chances, half chances... I thought Jesper (Lindstrom) had a good chance to score with his head and Dom (Dominic Calvert-Lewin) at the end as well - but we need to create even more than that."

Calvert-Lewin is having a torrid time, the last of his two goals coming in September. The stoppage-time miss was a first-time clip over the bar from an awkward low cross, but he also failed to make the most of two decent opportunities in the first half.

He looks a million miles away from the player who scored four goals in 11 England appearances in 2020 and 2021 and unless he rediscovers even a hint of that form, Everton look destined for another nervous relegation fight as they currently hover two places and one point above the drop zone.

The striker's travails are only a part of the problem, however, with a midfield desperately short of guile, particularly in the continued absence of the injured Dwight McNeil.

"It's a huge challenge," said Moyes, who regularly had Everton in the top eight during his 11 years in charge up to 2013.

• 'Sensational' Arsenal back in title race, says Arteta