Everton at Doncaster: Carabao Cup Match Preview | Toffees seek to avoid upset

Everton will look to kick-start their season and avoid an embarrassing upset in the process when they take on League Two Doncaster in the Carabao Cup second round on Wednesday.

The Toffees are winless, pointless and goalless after their first three Premier League games, though they created enough chances in the home matches against Fulham and Wolves to win comfortably.

To that end, the arrival of Beto is a huge boost and arguably one of the most significant signings of recent years. It means there is now genuine back-up/competition for Dominic Calvert-Lewin, allowing him to recover from his latest injury properly.

Photo by Tony McArdle/Everton FC via Getty Images

It can’t all rest on the Portuguese’s shoulders though, the rest of the team have to step up too. Amidst the doom and gloom I think there is a competitive squad there, once injuries clear up and perhaps one or two more arrive before the deadline.

The presence of the Sky TV cameras suggests they are sniffing an upset and the chance to kick Everton while they are down.

A positive result on Wednesday and then at Bramall Lane on Saturday should banish the sense of crisis and jump start the campaign.

That all may sound almost deludedly positive, but the alternative is much worse.

The opposition

Doncaster are enduring an equally torrid start to the season. The Yorkshire side are bottom of the entire Football League after taking just one point from their first five matches.

The brilliant EFC Statto account on Twitter informs me that this will be the first time the Toffees will play against a team bottom of the Football League since the introduction of the Fourth Division in 1958/59.

This is their first season in the bottom tier since 2016-17 after a five-year stay in League One came to an end last season, with their 18th-place finish their lowest finishing position since being promoted back to the Football League in 2003.

Grant McCann returned for a second spell in charge over the summer but his only win in six games in charge was against another one of his former clubs Hull in the previous round.

This will Everton’s first meeting with Doncaster since an FA Cup fourth round clash in 1985 and just the ninth meeting overall, with the majority of those during Everton’s time as a second-tier club in the early 1950s.

Team news

Everton boss Sean Dyche is expected to rotate his side for this game, though injuries will limit the amount of changes he can actually make.

It has not been confirmed whether Beto was registered in time to feature in this game, though the weekend trip to Sheffield United is likely to be a more realistic match to make his debut.

Ben Godfrey, Yousseff Chermiti, Tom Cannon and Vitaly Mykolenko are among those who could come in.

Final word

Everton’s disastrous start to the season could easily get worst this evening if they crash out in front of the Sky cameras. But it can just as easily be a timely opportunity to belatedly get their season going. If they approach the game properly then that should be the case.