Joey Barton’s Fleetwood Town look to cause a cupset as they welcome Everton to Highbury in the Third Round of 2020-21 Carabao Cup.
The winner of this tie will host West Ham United in the Fourth Round next week, after the Hammers crushed Hull City 5-1 in their meeting on Tuesday evening.
Team News
Fleetwood have no fresh injury concerns after Saturday’s League One loss at Peterborough.
Everton could be without Saturday’s hat-trick hero, Dominic Calvert Lewin due to a tight hamstring although he will be handed a late fitness test.
Jonas Lossl (back), Jarrad Branthwaite (ankle), Fabian Delph (fitness), Jean-Phillipe Gbamin (Achilles), Mason Holgate (toe) and Cenk Tosun (knee) are ruled out.
Stat Attack
- This is Fleetwood’s first ever meeting against Everton’s senior team, although they did beat the Toffees’ U23s team 4-0 in EFL Trophy in November 2019.
- Fleetwood have never reached this round before, although they lost their only previous League Cup meeting against Premier League opposition after losing 4-0 at Leicester in August 2018.
- Everton have won five of their last six League Cup matches against lower league opposition (W5, L1).
Prediction
Fleetwood have really scrapped their way to this stage with narrow wins in three of their last four fixtures in all competitions, which makes me feel that they are going to have to be at their defensive best if want to defeat Everton.
Speaking of the Toffees, they were absolutely superb on Saturday once they hit their stride against West Brom and I realistically can’t see them losing this if Carlo Ancelotti names a strong team, particularly given their attacking quality.
Calvert-Lewin’s likely absence meanwhile shouldn’t affect them up front because players like Moise Kean and Sandro available to replace him.
Prediction: Fleetwood Town 0-2 Everton
Result: Fleetwood Town 2-5 Everton