Everton host Newcastle in a huge Carabao Cup encounter as they seek to stop their season from rapidly unravelling.
Back-to-back defeats, albeit against Chelsea and champions Arsenal, have sparked murmurs of discontent among the supporters, who have seen this scenario play out many times before.
It wasn’t the defeats themselves that caused such frustration, but the manner of them. The Toffees barely threatened against Chelsea after falling behind at the start of the second half. They were equally toothless
against Arsenal, with some questioning why David Moyes didn’t try something different rather than the ‘keep it tight and try to nick 1-0’ approach.
Moyes has been in this game a long time, so he is not going to change. He can also point his paucity of options and the fact that the team ended the match with two midfielders at full-back following last summer’s disastrous transfer window.
However, there is some weight to the argument that giving more game time to Tyler Dibling and Hayden Hackney, alongside Tyrique George, could at least give the side a bit more energy and youthful dynamism, having looked ponderous at times at the Emirates.
Successive matches against Newcastle now await the Blues over the space of five days. It could be the defining moment of Moyes’ second spell.
Being dumped out of the cup will sap morale and inflame tensions even further, as well as piling the pressure on ahead of the Newcastle league game.
Five Premier League sides, including one of Brighton and Man City, as well as Liverpool and Chelsea, are guaranteed to fall in Wednesday’s games, while Bradford and Arsenal’s conquerors, Fleetwood, are already in the hat.
The potential is there for a shot at the semi-finals, but Everton’s record when it comes to grasping such opportunities is poor. Why can’t they surprise us just for once, eh?
The opposition
Evertonians have had their fair share of strife with PSR, and Newcastle fans can say the same.
If there were no financial rules in place, the Magpies would probably be Premier League and possibly Champions League winners by now, given that they became the richest club in the world by some distance following their Saudi-led takeover in 2021.
Those vast resources have delivered qualification for the Champions League twice and the Carabao Cup – ending a 70-year wait for a domestic trophy – but PSR has restricted further growth. A few years of lavish spending had to be corrected through player sales, with the likes of Elliot Anderson, Alexander Isak and Bruno Guimarães leaving St James’ Park.
Eddie Howe also left in the summer after last year’s disappointing 12th-place finish. Matthias Jaissle is his replacement, a relative unknown in the Premier League.
Two wins from their opening seven games, including 4-1 thrashings at Leeds and Coventry, put the heat on Jaissle, who arrived from Al-Ahli following spells with Red Bull Salzburg and Austrian minnows FC Liefering. But a win at Crystal Palace last time out and progress in the Carabao Cup have eased the pressure – though this feels like a similarly significant game for the Magpies and Jaissle as it is for Everton and Moyes.
Previous meeting
Newcastle 2-3 Everton, 28 February 2026
A goal off Thierno Barry’s backside secured a thrilling victory for Everton when the sides last met at the end of February. The Toffees went ahead through a Jarrad Branthwaite header. Jacob Murphy levelled, only for Beto to put the Toffees back in front two minutes later. Murphy levelled again in the 82nd minute, but Barry’s backside won it just a minute later.
Everton have not won away in the Premier League since.
Team news
Everton will hope Jack Grealish is fit to return after missing the Arsenal game through illness. Jarrad Branthwaite was also absent due to concussion protocols, and it remains to be seen whether he will be cleared to play.
Vitalii Mykolenko was forced off late on against the Gunners, which likely means he is considered a doubt.
Final word
The desperation for a trophy, or even a scrap of optimism, has piled the pressure on this game. At the risk of straying into hyperbole, it feels like a defining moment of the season and even of Moyes’ tenure.
Defeat on Thursday will be bad; another defeat on Monday would be a disaster.
