Ah, the League Cup. A competition that has brought Everton nothing but misery and disappointment over the years.
They have reached just two finals since its inception in 1960/61, losing to Aston Villa in 1977 (that went to three matches, with Everton losing the third in the final minute of extra time) and Liverpool in 1984.
The 1990s saw some horrible defeats to lower league sides including Portsmouth, Millwall, York and Oxford.
They have reached the semi-finals just three times since 1984, the last
being in 2016 when they threw away a 3-1 aggregate lead against Manchester City.
In the decade since they have reached three quarter-finals, though they have not made it past the third round in four of the last five seasons and have lost on penalties in five of the last eight.
So why will this year be any different?
The presence of the Sky cameras for Wednesday’s meeting with Preston suggests they smell an upset. And given David Moyes’ bizarre comments suggesting a binary choice between cup progress and avoiding relegation, the fans may be expecting one too.
Given Everton are not in Europe the squad should be large enough to cope with the demands of extra cup games, and the momentum generated by a cup run can bleed over into the league.
Moyes threw away a chance to reach the fourth round last season when he made a host of changes for an away trip to Wolves, who had lost five our of their six opening games. His comments suggest a similar approach here, and a defeat will erode some of the feel-good factor generated by their opening day win over Crystal Palace.
The opposition
Preston v Everton is one of the country’s oldest fixtures, but one that has rarely been seen since the advent of colour TV.
Both sides are founder members of the Football League in 1888. Preston won the inaugural championship and the FA Cup, thus becoming the first team to win the domestic Double. They also went the entire league season unbeaten to earn the nickname the ‘Invincibles’ – a feat only matched once since by Arsenal in 2004.
They went on to win the league again the following season before finishing runners-up three years running. The major honours dried up after that, with just the FA Cup arriving in 1938. But they were Division One runners-up twice in the 1950s and were regulars in the top flight until relegation in 1961 – the last time Everton played a competitive match a Deepdale.
There have been just two meetings since then – both at Goodison and both 2-0 wins for the Toffees in the FA Cup and League Cup.
The closest they have come to a top-flight return has been two play-off finals in 2001 and 2005 – the first of which was under David Moyes. Moyes spent five years as a player before four as a manager at Preston, guiding them to promotion to Division One – now the Championship – in 2000 and the play-off final a year later.
Ironically, there is already an Everton connection to Preston’s cup run. Their first round win over Huddersfield was at Goodison Park as the pitch at Deepdale was not ready. They have lost both of their league games since to Bolton and Wolves.
Previous meeting
Everton 2-0 Preston, 27 October 2004
You have to go back 22 years for the last meeting between the sides – a League Cup third round tie in October 2004, with goals from Lee Carsley and Marcus Bent sealing victory for the Toffees.
Team news
David Moyes is expected to shuffle his pack – though fans will wary of too many changes after last season.
Tyler Dibling, Carlos Alcaraz, Beto, Brennan Johnson and Jake O’Brien are all in contention to come into the side.
What Moyes said
“This is a question every journalist asks every manager and, in some ways, I think: ‘Are those journalists dead stupid? Do you think none of the managers want to win the cups?’
“If I asked you: ‘Would it be more important than staying in the Premier League?’ – what would your answer be? Your answer will half answer your own question.
“I can’t think of any manager who wouldn’t want a good run in a cup competition.”
Final word
Moyes’ comments – or at least the interpretation of them – has clearly irked the fans and might have actually put more pressure on the team to avoid an upset. I feel nervous about this one.
