Preston v Everton: Moyes Aims for EFL Cup Progress
The EFL Cup rarely does sentiment. David Moyes can’t afford to either.
Everton head to Deepdale on Wednesday night with momentum behind them and expectation on their shoulders, facing a Preston side still searching for a pulse in their Championship season.
Kick-off is 8pm at Deepdale, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football.
Moyes back on old ground, but eyes only on progress
Moyes carved out his early reputation at Preston between 1998 and 2002. This time, the only favour he owes Deepdale is a professional away performance and a ticket into the third round.
Everton arrive with a strong Premier League start in their pockets after a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace at Goodison Park. They weren’t flawless, but they were sharp, aggressive and ready for the season in a way several top-flight sides simply weren’t.
Palace had their chances. The Eagles squandered two big openings in the first half before Everton settled, grew and then seized control once Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall lit up the night with a superb opener. From there, Moyes’s side never really looked back.
The Scot has a balancing act to manage. Bournemouth away looms in the league on Saturday, and Dewsbury-Hall is among those who could be handed a breather. But Everton’s support has waited long enough for a proper cup run, and Moyes knows it. Expect experience in the XI and quality stacked on the bench rather than a patched-up side thrown to chance.
Everton’s record in this competition underlines the expectation. They have been present in every EFL Cup third-round draw since 2002. They are not in the habit of falling early.
Preston short on points, shorter on firepower
On the other side of the technical area, Paul Heckingbottom is already feeling the heat.
Two league games, two defeats. A 2-1 derby loss at Bolton to open the campaign, damaged badly by a poor first half. Then came Wolves at Deepdale, and that was brutal. A 3-1 home defeat that looked as one-sided as the numbers suggest.
By the time Jordan Thompson grabbed a stoppage-time consolation, Wolves were 3-0 up and cruising. Preston never really laid a glove on them in the final third.
The problems run deeper than one bad afternoon. Preston’s attack was hardly free-flowing last season, scoring 55 goals in 46 league matches. Their leading marksman, Lewis Dobbin with ten league goals, was only on loan from Aston Villa and has since moved on to Southampton.
Milutin Osmajic chipped in with eight league goals but was left out of the weekend squad as he edges towards a move to Genoa. Their only senior centre-forward, Jusef Erabi, was then forced off injured midway through the second half against Wolves.
That leaves Heckingbottom staring at an EFL Cup tie against Premier League opposition with a thin strike force and a fanbase already anxious. He needs new signings. He needs goals. He needs points. And he may well decide that Saturday’s league trip to Charlton matters more than going toe-to-toe with Everton at full strength.
Recent form offers little comfort. Preston have lost five of their last seven matches, gone 18 games without a clean sheet and conceded first in seven of their last eight. Against an Everton side that has scored in eight of their last nine, that is a dangerous mix.
Team news and likely line-ups
Heckingbottom’s selection is laced with risk whichever way he turns.
For Preston, Erabi is a doubt after limping off at the weekend. Brad Potts is out, while Theo Carroll’s ankle problem will be assessed closer to kick-off.
Preston predicted XI (4-2-3-1):
Iversen; Pol Valentin, Storey, Gibson, Vukcevic; McCann, Thompson; Burgzorg, Devine, Small; Lang.
Subs: Clarke, Hughes, Lindsay, Leroy, Erabi, Gryba, Moran.
Moyes is expected to freshen up his Everton side, but not gut it. Timothy Iroegbunam (adductor) and Christian Norgaard (match fitness) remain unavailable.
Everton predicted XI (4-2-3-1):
Pickford; Patterson, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko; Armstrong, Hackney; Ndiaye, Alcaraz, Johnson; Beto.
Subs: Dibling, Dewsbury-Hall, Barry, Branthwaite, Garner, Rohl, George.
Beto ready to bully and break the deadlock
One change looks almost certain: Beto should step out from the bench and into the spotlight.
The powerful centre-forward finished as Everton’s top league scorer last season with nine goals. He is not a ruthless finisher in the classic sense, but he is a magnet for chances. His movement, size and relentlessness force opportunities.
Against a Preston defence that has struggled to keep games under control and has centre-back Jordan Storey walking a disciplinary tightrope after ten cards last term, Beto’s presence feels like a mismatch waiting to happen.
If he starts, he has every chance of scoring first.
Odds, angles and the shape of the tie
The bookmakers are clear. Preston are 19-4 to win the tie in 90 minutes, Everton are 8-15 favourites, with the draw at 10-3.
Asian handicap backers see value in Everton -1, reflecting the gap in quality and depth. The visitors are expected not just to edge through but to do it with a bit to spare.
A Bet Builder built around Everton to qualify, Beto to score at any time and a card for Jordan Storey paints a picture of how this might look: top-flight side on the front foot, focal-point striker causing havoc, and a stretched Championship defence resorting to desperate measures.
TV details
- Date: Wednesday, August 26
- Kick-off: 8pm BST
- Venue: Deepdale, Preston
- Competition: EFL Cup second round
- Live on: Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football
Everton want a cup run. Preston just want a foothold in their season. Only one of those needs is likely to be satisfied under the Deepdale lights – and if Moyes’s men play with the same edge they showed on opening weekend, this could be the night their ambitions in this competition start to feel real.
