After succumbing to a home defeat at the hands of Premier League new-boys QPR, Everton are quickly back in action in midweek with a Carling Cup tie against League One side Sheffield United.
The Blades have made a rather better start to their league campaign, unbeaten in their opening four games with an impressive 10 points that leave them in third place on goal difference.
As we are Everton, we have already managed to pick up a significant number of injuries from playing our single league game. Jermaine Beckford, Louis Saha (surprise surprise) and Tim Cahill have been labelled doubts for Wednesday's game, whilst Seamus Coleman and Magaye Gueye are definitely out and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov is suspended.
That means that an already struggling forward line could have to rely on youngsters such as Conor McAleny and Apostolos Vellios or out-of-favour duo Victor Anichebe and Yakubu.
My team (assuming the trio of 'doubtful' players do not play) would be:
The tie will see centre-half Phil Jagielka face his old club and he is sure to get a warm reception from all four corners of the ground. A fans' favourite at Bramall Lane, Jagielka won the club's player of the year award three times on the bounce before moving to Everton.
Also facing his former club will be Sheffield United goalkeeper Steve Simonsen (above), who was signed by Everton in 1998 for a fee in excess of £3m, but failed to establish himself as number one at Goodison before moving to Stoke City in 2004.
It is of course a game we should win but given our poor start to the season and recent record in the cups mean we are not as clear favourites as one might assume. David Moyes will surely play a strong team as he bids to win his first piece of silverware in his decade-spanning tenure with the club.
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STAT'S LIFE
Welcome to the second set of stats in this new feature for the 2011/12 campaign:
- Should Everton score once (or more) against Sheffield United, they will have netted 200 goals against the Blades in all competitions.
- Everton's win percentage in matches against Sheffield United at Goodison Park is just over 57%.
- If selected, Tony Hibbert will be making his 250th Everton start.
- This is the fourth meeting of the sides in the League Cup. Everton have won two of the previous three fixtures.
- Everton last exited the League Cup at the second round stage in 2001, when they were beaten on penalties by Crystal Palace.
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We should have enough to beat Sheffield United - although we said the same thing against QPR and in previous cup ties against Oldham and Reading (amongst others). It will not be an easy fixture but I am going to predict an Everton win (before we get beat at Blackburn in Round 3).
StickyToffee Prediction: Everton 3-0 Sheffield United
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