Preston vs Everton: Moyes Aims for EFL Cup Victory at Deepdale

Date: Wednesday, August 26

Kick-off: 8pm BST

Venue: Deepdale, Preston

Competition: EFL Cup second round

TV: Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Football

David Moyes knows every corner of Deepdale, but there will be no room for sentiment when Everton roll into Preston on Wednesday night. His old club are stuck at the wrong end of the Championship, still pointless after two league games. His current one have started the Premier League with a clean, sharp 2-0 win over Crystal Palace and smell an opportunity to build momentum in the cup.

Everton have not missed an EFL Cup third-round draw since 2002. That record alone tells you how they tend to treat this competition. They turn up. They progress. And against a Preston side short on confidence and even shorter on firepower, they should again have the tools to control the tie.

Everton sharp, Preston stumbling

Plenty of top-flight sides looked undercooked on the opening weekend. Everton were not one of them.

They had to ride out a few jolts against Palace – the Eagles squandered two big first-half chances – but once Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall ripped in a superb opener, Moyes’s team settled and played with authority. That performance, and the 2-0 scoreline, underlined a squad that looks physically ready and tactically drilled.

Moyes is unlikely to go full strength three days before a Premier League trip to Bournemouth, and Dewsbury-Hall is among those who could be handed a breather. But the Scot knows the mood around Goodison Park. Everton supporters crave a proper cup run, and he has the depth to respect that without risking burnout. An experienced core is expected to start, with genuine quality waiting on the bench if required.

Paul Heckingbottom would love to have that luxury. Right now, he is firefighting.

Preston opened their Championship season with a 2-1 derby defeat at Bolton after a poor first half left them chasing the game. Any hope of a reset at home to Wolves vanished quickly. The 3-1 loss flattered North End. Wolves were 3-0 up and cruising before Jordan Thompson’s stoppage-time consolation added a thin layer of respectability to a one-sided contest.

The numbers paint an unforgiving picture. Preston have lost five of their last seven matches. They have gone 18 games without a clean sheet. They have conceded the first goal in seven of their last eight. This is not the platform any coach wants when a Premier League side comes to town.

Attacking crisis for North End

Heckingbottom’s biggest headache is up front.

Against Wolves, his only senior centre-forward, Jusef Erabi, limped off midway through the second half and is now a doubt. Brad Potts is already out, while Theo Carroll’s ankle problem needs to be assessed. Last season’s output was modest – 55 goals in 46 league games – and even that has been stripped back.

Ten-goal top scorer Lewis Dobbin has gone, his loan from Aston Villa turning into a summer move to Southampton. Milutin Osmajic, who hit eight league goals last term, was left out of the weekend squad with a transfer to Genoa on the horizon.

That leaves Heckingbottom with a blunt attack and a transfer window that cannot move fast enough. He needs late deals simply to make Preston competitive over the season, never mind turning them into cup giant-killers.

With a vital league trip to Charlton on the horizon and no points on the board, he may even temper his selection against Everton, protecting legs for the Championship grind. It is a brutal calculation, but the table tends to force a manager’s hand.

Team news and likely line-ups

Preston are expected to stick with a 4-2-3-1, but options are thin.

Preston (predicted 4-2-3-1):

Iversen; Pol Valentin, Storey, Gibson, Vukcevic; McCann, Thompson; Burgzorg, Devine, Small; Lang.

Subs: Clarke, Hughes, Lindsay, Leroy, Erabi, Gryba, Moran.

Erabi remains a doubt after his weekend injury. Potts is ruled out, while Carroll’s ankle will be checked closer to kick-off.

Everton will also line up in a 4-2-3-1, with Moyes expected to rotate without weakening the spine.

Everton (predicted 4-2-3-1):

Pickford; Patterson, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko; Armstrong, Hackney; Ndiaye, Alcaraz, Johnson; Beto.

Subs: Dibling, Dewsbury-Hall, Barry, Branthwaite, Garner, Rohl, George.

Timothy Iroegbunam (adductor) and Christian Norgaard (match fitness) are not in contention, but the rest of the squad offers plenty of flexibility.

Where the tie could be decided

Everton’s depth should tell. They have scored in eight of their last nine fixtures, and they carry threats from multiple areas of the pitch. Preston, by contrast, are struggling to create and finish chances, and their habit of conceding first leaves them constantly climbing uphill.

Moyes can ask his side to play on the front foot, pinning Preston back and testing a back line that has not tasted a clean sheet in 18 outings. With North End light on strikers and confidence, any early Everton goal could drain the atmosphere at Deepdale and turn the evening into a damage-limitation exercise for the hosts.

Beto the battering ram

One name stands out as the potential headline act.

Beto, Everton’s powerful centre-forward, is expected to step up from the bench into the starting XI. He finished last season as the club’s top league scorer with nine goals. He is not the most ruthless finisher in the division, but he is a magnet for chances – a constant nuisance for centre-backs with his size, movement and willingness to run in behind.

Against a stretched Preston defence, he looks well placed to set the tone. Backed by creative support from Ndiaye, Alcaraz and Johnson, Beto has a strong platform to open his account for the season and could easily be the man to break the deadlock under the Deepdale lights.

The odds and the stakes

Bookmakers make Everton firm favourites. Preston are priced at 19-4, with Everton 8-15 and the draw 10-3. The Toffees are expected not only to qualify but to do so with something to spare.

For Preston, this is about more than a cup tie. It is about halting a slide, restoring belief and proving they can live with a higher tempo and higher quality. For Everton, it is a chance to back up a strong league start, keep their long third-round streak alive and send an early message that this season, the cups matter.

Deepdale will remember Moyes. The question is whether, by the final whistle, it will be remembering him fondly – or watching his new team stride away into the next round.