Here we are again! Just 24 days on from their previous trip to Molineux, Everton once again travel to the West Midlands, this time in a Carabao Cup 3rd Round tie. The Toffees will be looking for a repeat of their result last time round, which saw a 3-2 victory that, in all honesty, flattered the home side. Wolves however, will be looking to at least salvage a cup run in what has been a dreadful start to their season.
Everton have a short turnaround for this cup tie, with three days rest between Saturday’s Merseyside derby defeat and Tuesday night’s match. Saturday’s loss was certainly a game of two halves – the Blues looked a shadow of the team which was undefeated in four games for the first 45 minutes, sitting back and looking totally intimidated by a Liverpool team that has been far from intimidating all season. After the break, Everton looked like a threat going forward, showing that this is a team which thrives in attack. If Everton want to take that next step into being a consistent top half team, performances and initial set-ups like that from David Moyes are far from acceptable.
What Moyes’ Everton teams do bring is a sense of comfort going into a game against a weaker team, with all due respect of course. Wolves’ only win this season came against fellow strugglers West Ham in Round 2 of this competition, so expectations cannot exactly be high around Molineux. With boos ringing around the stadium after Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at home to Leeds, the mood could not be much worse in the week following the inexplicable decision to hand manager Vitor Pereira a new three-year deal.
Everton and Wolves – History
I am getting massive déjà vu here. There is not much else to say regarding this fixture as to what was written three weeks ago.
Everton and Wolves now both have two wins each in their last five meetings, after Everton’s 3-2 win last month.
That result was Everton’s first win at Molineux since 2021 – it is still worth noting that this is a ground which Everton frequently struggle at.
Team news
Vitaliy Mykolenko returned to the Everton starting XI on Saturday following a persistent injury during his start to the season.
Midfielder Merlin Röhl is a doubt for this game after being left out of Saturday’s squad following a knock in training.
Jarrad Branthwaite remains injured but is understood to be nearing a return to action.
Wolves’ Jørgen Strand Larsen played 45 minutes on Saturday, in his first appearance since suffering an achilles injury last month.
What the manager says
On the Merseyside derby – ‘I’m just disappointed we didn’t maybe get something out of it. It was always going to be tough for us to get there after going two down. But we stuck at it, worked our way back into the game and finished the game relatively strong.’
On encouraging signs – ‘There’s a change in what we’re doing and it’s going to take a bit of time but as long as we keep pushing the top teams, it’ll be showing the right signs.’
On the travelling support – ‘The crowd were brilliant. They’d have been disappointed in our first half but I think by the second half they would have been saying, “This is more like us, more like what we’ve seen during the season.’
Everton Key Player
Thierno Barry – Given that he starts, which I believe is highly likely after Beto’s turgid first-half performance and half time withdrawal at Anfield, Everton’s young striker will be looking to seize the opportunity to nail down a starting spot. Barry can consider himself unlucky after being harshly dropped following a promising full debut in the 2-0 win against Brighton, but going forward it is clear to see that he will eventually be the main #9 in this Everton team.
Barry is simply an all-round better player than Beto. Sometimes, especially away from home, all football teams need to rely on a striker up front who can hold the ball up and bring others into play, and Barry showed against Brighton how he is capable of that; the two goals scored came from some impressive hold up play by the French Under-21 international. It is no coincidence that Everton looked like a stronger attacking outfit against Liverpool since Barry came onto the field – He gives a completely different out-ball compared to Beto and is far better at bringing Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye into play.
Now is the time to give Barry a run of games, regardless of how he performs. The recruitment team clearly saw enough to spend £30m on him early in the transfer window, prioritising him over any other moves. He is part of Everton’s future and clearly has the potential to be Everton’s striker for years to come – Tuesday’s game could be just what he needs to kickstart his Everton career.
One to watch for Wolves
Jørgen Strand Larsen – Wolves’ team is so poor and full of new signings who I have hardly even heard of, let alone seen play that Strand Larsen now sticks out like a sore thumb. I expect him to start as this seems like an ideal fixture to build up some much-needed match fitness, as Wolves will be looking to the Norwegian to save their season now that the Newcastle transfer fiasco is dead in the water.
At a club who used to boast forwards such as Pedro Neto and Matheus Cunha, it is a clear fall from grace seeing how Strand Larsen is now Wolves’ star attacker. However, Strand Lartsen scored an impressive 14 Premier League goals last season – albeit in a team that included Matheu Cunha – showing that he is a reliable top-flight goalscorer. He has two goals to his name already in this season, both coming in their previous EFL cup tie against West Ham. With Everton leaking constantly chances and goals through the middle of the park, Strand Larsen will comfortably be the biggest threat the centre backs face all evening, if he starts.
Final Thoughts
Everton are comfortably a better side than Wolves, as seen in the 3-2 win last month. Even though I expect a fair amount of rotation, with Jack Grealish, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and Iliman Ndiaye possibly being rested, Everton finally have strength in depth for the first time in what feels like forever. This is a big game for the fringe players to stake a claim to be in David Moyes’ thinking going forward, and Tyler Dibling will be hoping to impress on what could be his full debut for the club.
It could be a hostile atmosphere at Molineux, a somewhat refreshing feeling knowing that Everton are not the club in free-fall for once. Moyes will be expecting a professional performance and a response to the defeat in the Merseyside derby, ahead of another winnable game against West Ham next Monday.
Prediction
0-2 – I am expecting Everton to dominate this match regardless of who starts. Vitor Pereira could also rotate his squad, looking to perhaps prioritise the Premier League ahead of what could be a tough period for his team. As the defeats keep flowing in, pressure will build regardless of his controversial new contract, meaning Pereira has a decision to make as to how much this cup tie will mean. Conversely, Everton will be hoping for a successful cup run in this season and their league form remains solid, therefore I am expecting a routine win for the Toffees as they may have a stronger focus towards this game.
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