David Moyes conceded that there is still work to be done to guarantee Everton's Premier League status despite their upturn in form since his return to Goodison Park.

Moyes watched on as his side were held to a 2-2 by Manchester United last time out, despite leading by two goals at half-time thanks to goals from Beto and Abdoulaye Doucoure.

Indeed, Everton have now failed to win 22 Premier League games in which they have led by two or more goals (D16 L6). Only Southampton (25) have failed to win more games in the competition's history.

Though Moyes has led the Toffees to 14th and 14 points away from the bottom three, the Everton boss believes his side still have a long way to go this season.

"All the players will want their futures out and I understand. But I think this club has only just got its future sorted out and only recently got new owners in who are beginning to filter into the building," Moyes said.

"I've said that until we're completely safe we're not going to look into anyone's contract. Hopefully that will be sooner rather than later.

"I want to be positive and say we're going to be in the Premier League, but there's still work to do. But I do think we need to start making plans and putting things in place for another season in the league."

Brentford, meanwhile, continued their impressive away form in emphatic fashion, putting four past lowly Leicester City to move up to 11th in the standings.

The Bees have now won four successive away games in the top-flight for the very first time in their history – it's also the longest ongoing away winning run by any current Premier League side.

And Thomas Frank believes that Brentford's improvement in recent weeks has been down to his side's defensive efforts.

"We actually consistently perform well at home," said Frank. "I know we haven’t won in the last few games, but there have been good performances.

"I think we performed well against Tottenham but just couldn’t score. We created a lot of opportunities but couldn't get it over the line.

"It's all about our performances. The thing we have done very well over the last six games is that we've been even more solid.

"We're still a big threat going forward, but defensively, we've taken a step up if you look at the last four games. The number of shots and xG has been going down considerably, which is good."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Brentford - Bryan Mbeumo

After his goal against Leicester last time out, 36 of Mbeumo's 37 Premier League goals have been scored with his left foot (97%). Among players with 30+ goals in the competition, only Ashley Young has a higher proportion with a particular foot (98% right-footed - 49/50).

But it is not just Mbeumo Everton have to look out for. The Cameroonian, along with Yoane Wissa, have both scored in the same Premier League match 17 times, including six this season. Since Brentford's first campaign in the Premier League (2021-22), this is the most times any pair of players have both scored in a match for any club in the competition.

Everton – Beto

Beto became just the fourth Everton player to score the opening goal of a game in three successive Premier League appearances, after Francis Jeffers in September 2000, Nikica Jelavic in April 2012 and Richarlison in March 2021 following his strike against Man United. 

He has also scored in each of his last four Premier League games, with only three Everton players ever doing so in five in a row – Duncan Ferguson (between April and August 2001), Romelu Lukaku (seven between November and December 2015), and Dominic Calvert-Lewin (between September and October 2020).

MATCH PREDICTION: BRENTFORD WIN

Despite being favoured by Opta’s data-led simulations, Brentford are winless in their last five against Everton in the Premier League (D2 L3) despite winning their first two top-flight games against them in 2021-22.

From the start of the season to the end of MD15 in December, Brentford had the most Premier League home wins (seven), most Premier League home points (22), and most Premier League home goals (26) of any side. Since then, they’ve earned just one point from five home league games, netting just three goals in the process.

They have also won none of their eight midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) Premier League matches since the start of last season (D2 L6), while at home they've never won a midweek match in the competition (D3 L4).

Everton, meanwhile, have kept a clean sheet in three of their last four Premier League games against Brentford, though each of these shutouts has been at Goodison Park. They've conceded exactly once in all three of their away games against the Bees in the competition.

The Toffees have, however, won both of their last two Premier League away games, having emerged victorious in just one of their previous 21 prior (D8 L12). They last won more consecutively between October and December 2023 (four).

And Moyes will be hoping to improve his dismal record against the Bees. The Scot has won one and lost five of his six Premier League meetings with Brentford, all with West Ham from 2021 to 2024. His 0.5 points-per-game against the Bees is his lowest average against any side in his managerial career in the competition.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Brentford – 47%

Draw – 24.8%

Everton – 28.2%