After being embarrassed at home by Sheffield United in the Premier League on Saturday, Everton travel to the Blades’ nearest rivals, Sheffield Wednesday, for an EFL Cup third round tie on Tuesday.
It will be the first time the two sides have faced each other since September 2007, when they met at Hillsborough in the same round of the same competition, as Everton ran out 3-0 winners.
After Steve Bruce’s summer departure for Newcastle and Lee Bullen’s spell as caretaker manager, Wednesday are two games into the tenure of new boss Garry Monk, who won 2-0 at Huddersfield Town in his first match and drew 1-1 at home to Fulham in his second.
They find themselves in ninth in the Championship after eight games, with 13 points to their name.
Prior to Tuesday night’s game, we spoke to Louis Shackshaft, football writer and podcaster, and Sheffield Wednesday supporter:
RBM: Firstly, though it is still early days, how much encouragement have you taken from Garry Monk’s first two games in charge of Sheffield Wednesday?
Louis: Well, we’re unbeaten, if that’s anything to go by. Like you say, it’s very early days. I suppose we can’t begin to judge Monk until after the January transfer window, at least.
We had a comfortable victory against Huddersfield Town but you could argue we were lucky to snatch a point at the death in our recent outing versus Fulham. It’s going to take time, but four points from two games is a decent return, so far.
RBM: How seriously do you think Wednesday’s hopes for the campaign were dented by Steve Bruce’s departure to Newcastle just two-and-a-half weeks before the start of the season?
Louis: It certainly didn’t help matters. Having said that, despite Bruce’s departure, I firmly believe our preparations for each game remained the same under caretaker Lee Bullen. He didn’t format a new approach to our set-up in which the squad had worked so hard on in preseason. That was good to see.
We had to move on pretty quickly after the inevitable happened. I think the club handled the situation well on and off the field.
RBM: Monk will no doubt prioritise progress in the Championship to success in the EFL Cup. With that in mind, how important is Tuesday’s game to you?
Louis: Honestly, not that important. It’s always great to go on a cup run and progress to the next round especially against teams in a higher division.
However, our aims and objectives all remain in the league this term. I’m sure Monk feels the same. That doesn’t mean I don’t want the Owls to win on Tuesday, though.
RBM: Similarly, what do you expect the atmosphere to be like at Hillsborough on Tuesday? Is this the sort of game Wednesday fans will be particularly up for?
Louis: Definitely. Playing against a Premier League side in the cup often brings out the best atmospheres, especially in midweek ties when the entrance fees are cheaper and the fans tend to flock through the turnstiles.
I’d expect a decent attendance for this contest also; 20,000 plus, maybe.
RBM: Which areas of the pitch should Everton look to exploit against Wednesday?
Louis: Definitely our full-backs. There are still question marks looming over Moses Odubajo; he’s prone to the odd mistake. Since Monk’s arrival, he has kept faith in the right-back and he seems to have settled back to his best in the last few games.
It could have simply been a confidence issues when he first arrived, particularly as we have Dominic Iorfa, Liam Palmer, Morgan Fox, Jordan Thorniley and David Bates all pushing for starts across the back four.
RBM: With Everton currently in a dreadful run of form, how confident are you that Wednesday have the quality to prey on any potential vulnerabilities in them?
Louis: Good question; this may all boil down to our starting eleven. From that, we will know how serious we are taking this tie and competition. If we were to play a full-strength team, I don’t think there is any reason why we can’t get a result in this fixture.
Honestly, though, I can’t see Monk playing his ‘best’ eleven. It’ll probably be a mix between first team and second-string players. I expect Everton will do the same also.
RBM: How do you expect Wednesday to set up on Tuesday?
Louis: We will most likely play a 4-1-4-1 formation that adapts to a 4-3-3 as we attack. It’s interesting that in our last two outings, we’ve had little possession, but created more of the opportunities in terms of shots at goal.
Counter-attacking seems to be a key aspect of Monk’s game plan; I’m sure we’ll see this again on Tuesday.
RBM: Who do you think can cause Everton the most problems?
Louis: Typically, I would say Kadeem Harris, Barry Bannan and Steven Fletcher, but that’s if they are to play, of course. Harris is lightning quick and has a handful of assists already. Bannan is a cog in our wheel and Fletcher is probably in his best form for a long while.
RBM: Finally, what’s your prediction for Tuesday’s game?
Louis: This is really difficult to say without seeing the team sheet from both sides. To give you a score prediction, I’ve got a gut feeling that this tie may be decided on penalties after a score draw. I’ll say 1-1.
Our thanks to Louis for his time.