Live Blog

Fulltime Thoughts - Everton were made to work very hard for this one, and late on when they needed inspiration they got it from one of the new boys. The thing with these early rounds is, whether you go through 2-1 or 6-0, you’re in the hat for the next round and that is all that matters.

90+6’ - There’s the final whistle, big sigh of relief for Evertonians.

90+3’ - Corner for the Terriers, goes over everyone and lucky for the Blues no one can get to it! Whew. Iwobi on the ground looking to see out the remaining one minute on the clock.

89’ - Everton doing well playing keep away and taking the fouls Huddersfield are committing to kill the clock.

79’ - Townsend scores his first Everton goal! Beautiful triangle between Digne, Gomes and Iwobi ends with Townsend slamming into the roof of the net, ten-man Blues lead Huddersfield 2-1 with ten to play!

78’ - Townsend pressure wins a corner in the end the away fans are at. Poorly hit, and cleared.

74’ - Finally, Demarai Gray is comin on for Nkounkou. Remember, if this is tied at ninety minutes we’re going straight to penalties.

73’ - Townsend now wins a freekick on the right in a deep position, will whip it in with his left foot.. it’s a good one cleared by the home side and they break in numbers, and lucky for Everton the pullback was poor.

71’ - Townsend fouls his man, and it’ll be a freekick for Huddersfield from a promising position on the Everton right. Inswinger is cleared by Nkounkou.

64’ - Davies is going off and Lucas Digne is on, which means Nkounkou going up to wide midfield on the left. 4-4-1 with Iwobi up top.

60’ - It’s all kicked off here. Kean was barged into , he shoved Thomas back and is shown a straight red card! The Terriers player is given only a yellow and Everton are livid.
Meanwhile Gomes had come on for Branthwaite before that, and the Blues are in a straight back-four.

56’ - Holmes turns and shoots.. Begovic with a fantastic fingertip save to push that over. Corner for the Terriers and they are ahead! Pearson this time gets in and makes it 2-1. Everton are going out aren’t they?
No wait! No goal, the assistant referee who disallowed Kean’s goal has chalked this one off. looks like a push on Holgate, but it’s a weak call. No, Campbell was offside I think. More like a make-up call from the first half it looks like.

54’ - Everton pour forward from a turnover, Lees hacks his clearance out for a corner. Horribly overhit by Townsend and straight out, wasted.

52’ - Sinani with a wicked inswinging cross into the box, Campbell beats Keane but can’t make contact, and then Begovic makes a flailing dive when he realizes that might curl in at the far post.

50’ - Huddersfield have started the hungrier side and are really going for it here, pressing the Blues up high. There should be some spaces to exploit here for Everton.

46’ - And as I say that, the pair combine to turn the ball over and allow a counter attack that luckily is fired wide. Oh, the second half is underway and no changes to either side.

Townsend and Gbamin have to come off for me, both are struggling here. Hate to put more miles on Gray and Doucoure’s legs, but Everton will need it to see this out.

Halftime Thoughts - Everton have strolled about here and had their chances to put this one beyond doubt already. Huddersfield are a scrappy lot and finally took a chance they were handed. The Blues should still see this out, but really need someone to put their foot on the ball and dictate the game in the middle.

45’ - Long throw into the box, Nkounkou partly clears, Sinani shoots, Holgate intervenes and heads it out for a corner.
Corner is into the box and an unmarked Lees gets in between Holgate and Keane and heads home, it’s 1-1 and was coming to be fair.

43’ - Awful giveaway by Gbamin just outside the box and Campbell nicks and it shoots just over the bar, that was lucky for Everton. They’re finishing the half the stronger side.

40’ - Nkounkou coming in late on Kenny’s overhit cross.. off his shins and over again!

36’ - Begovic getting too cute with the footwork and has a clearance charged down for a goalkick.

34’ - Whoa! Terriers make a great break down their right, a cross into the box falls for Daniel Sinani who fires at goal, well-saved by Begovic but he punches it right back at Sinani who then blasts way over. That was close.

28’ - Kean with a great run makes it 2-0!! No! Offside is the decision though on the replay it looks very, very close and the striker looked onside. No VAR in these games remember.
Kean called offside again and he is still livid at the assistant referee on this side because he did not look offside at all!

26’ - GOAL! A great give-and-go by Davies and Gbamin sees Davies running into space, he plays an overlapping Iwobi in on the left and he slots home easily, Blues lead 1-0.

25’ - Long ball from the midfield for Huddersfield and Begovic is out quick to collect. Possession about even for the game, thought the Terriers are looking the more coordinated side right now.

19’ - Davies makes a good run into the box and his cross isn’t aimed at anyone in particular, Nkounkou charging in late hits it off his shin and into the top row.

13’ - Another turnover and nifty passing allows Kean to get on the ball in the box, but instead of firing he tries to dribble to glory and it’s cleared.

10’ - Both sides have been guilty of committing poor turnovers. The latest one allows Andros Townsend to get a look at goal, but he drags his right-footed shot horribly wide.

8’ - For those asking, yes Gbamin is playing and looking like someone making his first start in 738 days. The ideas are good, the execution not quite there.

4’ - Iwobi starts an attack, Nkounkou cross into the box and Keane looks to tap home, but the goalie saves very well, cleared for a corner.
Taken short, cleared for another corner. Ball comes to Gbamin on the right to cross but he overhits it.

3’ - Thomas with a giveaway straight to Moise Kean who runs on goal with a man in front of him, fires off a shot and it’s just wide.

1’ - The hosts get us underway. The Terriers are in the customary blue and white stripes, while Everton are in their Black Watch away kit and orange socks.

Kickoff - Looks like the hosts will be lined up an aggressive 3-4-3, so Benitez going with a new 5-4-1 makes more sense.

On paper Everton should have enough to be comfortable winners, but away nights in the cups tend to have a mind of their own, so let’s see how this goes.
Some other news away from this game, looks like the Premier League clubs have decided not to release players traveling to red list countries for the next international break. With Brazil and Colombia on the list, this will be an opportunity for Richarlison, Yerry Mina and James Rodriguez to rest up.
The Everton Women have also landed a major young superstar, with Hanna Bennison joining for a club record fee - she is the current holder of the Goal NXGN Award for the best young female footballer in the world.

Lineups - Benitez makes some wholesale changes to the starting lineup, nine in all! Looks like we’ll see a three-man backline (Michael Keane, Mason Holgate and Jarrad Branthwaite) with Jonjoe Kenny and Niels Nkounkou as wingbacks. Jean-Philippe Gbamin gets the start alongside Tom Davies, Alex Iwobi and Andros Townsend out wide and Moise Kean up top. Andre Gomes returns to the bench but still no sign of Ben Godfrey and James Rodriguez.

Preview

Everton are off to a decent enough start in the Premier League with four points from two games, but today travel to Huddersfield Town with a chance to take a step closer towards lifting the Carabao Cup, which you will have no doubt heard already that the Toffees have never won. The Second Round clash will be an opportunity for Rafa Benitez to give some minutes to a few players who have been on fringes of the side so far, as well as possibly get a couple of players fit who have been sitting out due to the COVID isolation protocol.

Richarlison seemed to fade in and out of the game on Saturday, and understandably so after how hectic a summer he has already had. Benitez also noted that Dominic Calvert-Lewin was still struggling with a toe injury and it’ll be a surprise to see either start tonight.

The status of James Rodriguez and Ben Godfrey with regards to their 10-day isolation remains unknown as does the fitness of Andre Gomes, and the trio will not be expected to play either.

Hosts Huddersfield needed penalties to beat Sheffield Wednesday in the first round, and will be buoyed by a 2-1 shock away win at Sheffield United over the weekend where they were dominated by the Blades, conceded an equalizer in time added on and then still scored a winner even deeper into injury time.

Match Details

Competition: Carabao Cup Second Round

Date and start time: Tuesday, August 24th at 11:45 a.m. PT / 2:45 p.m ET / 7:45 p.m. BST

Stadium: John Smith’s Stadium, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom

Capacity: 24,121

Weather: 67°F/19°C, mostly cloudy, 1% chance of precipitation, 5 mph winds

How to Watch/Listen

TV: ESPN+ - United States; N/A - United Kingdom; DAZN - Canada, beIN Sports Xtra 2, beIN Sports 3, SuperSport Premier League ROA, SuperSport MaXimo 1, RMC Sport 1, ESPN Caribbean, Fox Sports 1 Brazil, Kayo Sports

Radio: evertontv, TalkSport Radio UK, BBC Radio 5 Live

Live stream: ESPN app, Sky GO, ESPN Play Sur, beIN SPORTS CONNECT, DStv Now, RUSH

Gamethread: Live blog above starting one hour before game time

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Information from LiveSoccerTV.com

Lineups

Everton

Starting XI: Begovic, Kenny, Holgate, Keane, Branthwaite, Nkounkou, Davies, Gbamin, Iwobi, Townsend, Kean

Subs: Lonergan, Digne, Mina, Coleman, Doucoure, Gomes, Gray

Huddersfield

Starting XI: Nicholls, Toffolo, Pearson, Vallejo, High, Thomas, Holmes, Campbell, Sarr, Sinani, Lees

Subs: Schofield, O’Brien, Koroma, Aarons, Turton, Colwill, Russell

Last Meeting

The Blues won both the Premier League games they played at Huddersfield during the two years the Terriers were in the Premier League, and have also won both times they played them in this competition as well, coincidentally both times in the Second Round too.