OF all the things David Moyes was left to ponder in the wake of Saturday’s derby defeat, there is one that keeps gnawing away.

Sure, the Goodison manager has good reason to rue his team’s inability to turn territorial domination into anything tangible given their numerical advantage for almost an hour.

Yes, some of the refereeing decisions at Anfield still leave him bemused and bemoaning the inconsistency of the match officials.

And then there is the injury to Marouane Fellaini and sending-off of Steven Pienaar to contend with.

But perhaps the most maddening aspect of the weekend’s disappointment was the manner in which Liverpool scored their winning goal.

Everton have become past masters at the set-piece, so it was some surprise to see them concede from a corner. Factor in their own impotence from the dead ball, and it’s easy to see why Moyes saw fit to chastise his team.

It was different back in December, when twice Everton benefited from slack defending by Chelsea to earn a 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge.

And with the two teams clashing again at Goodison this evening, Moyes has urged his team to rediscover their ruthless streak and expose the Londoners’ weakness.

“Our set-piece delivery was poor against Liverpool, very poor,” he admits. “And their set-piece delivery was excellent. They had six or seven corners where we had to defend well. I don’t think they had to defend well against our set-pieces.

“You wouldn’t for a moment think that Chelsea should be struggling with the strength and the size of the team they have got.

“You have Terry, Carvalho, Ballack, Ivanovic, Drogba, Obi Mikel are all very big and powerful, you wouldn’t think that would a problem. They have a very good goalkeeper too.”

Tonight’s game – the 300th Premier League encounter of Moyes’s managerial career – is the second of a difficult February schedule that will shape the remainder of Everton’s campaign, ahead of clashes with Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur and the Europa League tie against Sporting Lisbon.

The Goodison outfit have not beaten Chelsea in 22 previous attempts under Moyes, and he says: “It can be good to have big games in a row because it keeps your performance level high and your levels of concentration up there as well.

“You understand that you’ve got to be at your best and make no mistakes to beat them, which is why a tough run is not always such a bad thing.”