Everton Women welcome Nottingham Forest to Goodison Park on Sunday as the Toffees take on the WSL 2 outfit in their second Group A encounter of the Subway League Cup.
The Blues opened their cup campaign
with a loss away to Manchester City and Brian Sorensen’s side will need a victory, not just to kick start their interest in a competition where they have never made it out of the group phase under the Dane, but in order to give their fans a sense that there is a purpose to this season, which has so far yielded just one win in all competitions.
Everton’s demolition of Liverpool at Anfield on the opening day of the 2025/26 campaign proved to be a false dawn for the Goodison faithful, with the Blues losing five of the next six and a solitary draw against Leicester City the only game the team haven’t lost since the win over their Merseyside rivals.
Sorensen has usually used the League Cup to experiment with his side and give players some game time, particularly the younger players in the squad in seasons where numbers were short within the ranks.
But with nine new acquisitions in the summer, the Everton coach has had more established stars to afford starts to as he attempts to acclimatise the new faces to life in the WSL.
Though Everton have endured a few injuries with one or two now back in contention, Royal Blue Mersey feels that Sorensen has little to no choice to go full strength against Carly Davies’ team, given that the Blues are yet to win at home this season and can ill-afford to head into the international break winless in seven games.
The rules of the competition determines that a penalty shootout decides result should the game end all square in after extra time, but the Toffees need to make a statement, and have Kelly Gago in line for a start since returning to action in last week’s defeat to Manchester United.
With four goals already to her name, Ornella Vignola should retain her place, while Toni Payne could make up the front three, given her ability to link up well with Gago.
The Opposition
Sitting sixth in the WSL 2 with three wins and three draws in their six league games, Davies’ side bested Newcastle United in their League Cup opener, and will be confidently looking for a scalp at Goodison given the home form of their hosts, and the fact that two of their three league victories have come on the road.
Nine goals scored and also conceded in the first half a dozen, Everton will be well aware of Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah, who spent eight years with the Blues and made 57 senior appearances before moving to Aston Villa.
Another former Toffee that may come up against her former employers is Mollie Green, who spent one season on Merseyside before spells with Manchester United, Birmingham City and then finally Forest, where she was named Coaches’ Player of the Season during the 2024/25 campaign that saw triumphs in both the FA Women’s National League North and FA Women’s National League Cup.
Previous Meetings
With the two sides usually in different leagues, Everton and Forest tend to meet in cup competitions.
And few will forget the meeting in February 2024 at Grange Park, when the Blues plundered seven past their hosts to send them into the last eight of the Women’s FA Cup, with former Toffee Katherine Kuhl scoring the pick of the bunch.
Out of all the six scorers that day, not one is still currently at Everton but Sorensen won’t have forgotten, and will be desperately hoping for a similar goal-laden performance to provide the spark his team are so in need of.
Everton Women take on Nottingham Forest in the Subway League Cup on Sunday, 19 October.
Kick-off at Goodison Park at at 2pm BST (9am ET, 6am PT) and tickets are available.
